I militari cinesi pensano ad una nuova presenza nell’Oceano Indiano
– La Cina sta valutando la proposta delle Seychelles di usare i suoi porti come scalo per la marina cinese, e per fare rifornimento mentre partecipa al pattugliamento anti-pirateria.
– Seychelles hanno proposto alla Cina di usare come base (non permanente) per 2 o 3 aerei da ricognizione (Y-12) e per il personale il suo principale aeroporto, da dove Africom (Comando militare Usa per l’Africa) fa partire i suoi droni, utilizzabili per ricognizione o per combattimento.
– Usa ed alleati non sarebbero contrari all’uso del porto delle Seychelles come scalo delle navi cinesi benvenute nella lotta anti-pirateria, lo sarebbero se l’aeronautica cinese vi impiantasse una sua base, che sarebbe la prima base militare cinese all’estero.
– Secondo alcuni analisti, Seychelles – piccola isola, 89 000 abitanti, al largo dell’Africa Orientale, a 1600 km dalla Tanzania – rappresenta per la Cina una potenziale piattaforma strategica per competere con gli Usa e l’India per il predominio navale nell’Oceano Indiano;
– La Cina ha negato tali intenzioni, ma secondo gli analisti con l’espansione delle operazioni della marina lontano dalle coste cinesi, essa ha bisogno di basi, per proteggere le rotte marittime da dove passa la maggior parte delle sue importazioni di petrolio.
– L’India teme che i cinesi penetrino nelle Seychelles, da essa considerare il proprio “cortile strategico”. La Cina ha già costruito infrastrutture o rinnovato porti in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka e Pakistan, che potrebbero essere usate dalla marina cinese per rifornimento e rifugio in caso di conflitto regionale.
– La marina cinese ha aumentato la frequenza delle esercitazioni lontano dalle sue coste dalla fine del 2008, quando si è unita al pattugliamento anti-pirateria, la prima volta dal XV secolo che la marina militare giungeva presso la costa africana.
Finora le navi cinesi hanno utilizzato per rifornimenti i porti di Jibuti, Oamn e Yemen, ma le forze armate cinesi hanno stretto le relazioni con altri paesi della regione, e in aprile 2011 hanno inviato in visita amichevole due fregate in Tanzania, Sudafrica e Seychelles.
Chinese Military Considers New Indian Ocean Presence
– China is considering a proposal from the Seychelles, a tiny island nation off the coast of East Africa, for Chinese navy ships to use its ports to rest and take on supplies while participating in antipiracy patrols, according to both governments.
– The Seychelles has also proposed that China base military reconnaissance aircraft and personnel at its main airport, from where the U.S. operates surveillance drones, the Seychelles’ foreign minister, Jean-Paul Adam, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
– If China were to use the Seychelles simply as a port of call it wouldn’t necessarily concern the U.S. and its allies, which are keen for China to play a larger role in antipiracy efforts. Basing aircraft there could be more controversial as that would appear to be the first example of China basing military assets overseas.
– The Seychelles, an archipelago about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) east of Tanzania with a population of about 89,000, is a potential strategic platform for China as it seeks to compete with the U.S. and India for naval dominance of the Indian Ocean, analysts say.
China’s Defense Ministry declined to comment on the aircraft and personnel, while its Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of that part of the offer, and any naval supply stops in the Seychelles or other countries would be "completely transparent and should not worry other countries."
Navy Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the Defense Department was aware of the press reports that China may conduct resupply visits to the Seychelles.
"We welcome China’s participation in the multinational efforts to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia," Cmdr. Hull-Ryde said. "We look forward to deepening our cooperation in the region including conducting exercises together in the Gulf of Aden."
– "If access to the islands helps China play a more effective part in the multinational counterpiracy effort, I say the more the merrier. We can’t say we want to work with the Chinese on maritime security, then turn around and castigate them for putting adequate logistics in place to support the endeavor," said James Holmes, a China expert at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I.
A senior U.S. military official said the presence of Chinese ships was "not a big concern" to the U.S. or to its drone base in the Seychelles.
– Pentagon officials declined to comment on speculation about Chinese military aircraft being based in the Seychelles.
– China has long denied that it plans to set up military bases overseas, but Chinese military experts have suggested for several years that the country needs to establish an overseas base—ideally in the Indian Ocean—as its navy expands operations far from China’s shores, principally to protect the shipping lines that carry most of its oil imports.
– India, whose navy ships regularly visit the Seychelles, is especially wary of any Chinese inroads into what it sees as its strategic backyard, and many India media outlets responded to China’s announcement by reporting that Beijing was establishing its first overseas military base.
An Indian navy spokesman declined to comment, but Indian officials said in private they were watching the development with interest, although their understanding was that China had no current plans to establish an actual base in the Seychelles.
– China has already funded construction or upgrades of ports in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which some Indian and U.S. military officials believe could be used to provide Chinese navy ships with supplies and refuge in the event of a regional conflict.
– China says those ports are purely for civilian use, but its navy has been conducting operations far from its shores with increasing frequency since late 2008 when its ships joined the anti-piracy patrols—the first time Chinese military ships had visited the African coast since the 15th century.
– The Chinese ships taking part in the antipiracy patrols have so far been using ports in Djibouti, Oman and Yemen to collect supplies, according to the Chinese Defense Ministry.
– But the Chinese military has been strengthening ties with other countries in the region, and sent two frigates on friendly visits to Tanzania, South Africa and the Seychelles in April, according to the Chinese Defense Ministry.
Mr. Adam, the Seychelles foreign minister, said his government had first proposed the idea of a Chinese military "presence" in his country in 2010, and that it was discussed during a visit there this month by Gen. Liang Guanglie, China’s defense minister.
– Mr. Adam said the Seychelles had appealed to China and other countries to help it expand anti-piracy operations around the country’s territorial waters.
"This is a discussion on an open invitation to the Chinese," he said. "We’d welcome a long-term presence in the Seychelles, but that is not our expectation."
– He said his government had suggested that China based two or three planes—probably Y-12 twin-engine turboprop surveillance aircraft—at the main airport in the Seychelles along with enough personnel to maintain and operate them.
Under the proposal, Chinese naval ships would regularly visit ports in the Seychelles to collect supplies, and allow their crews to rest, but they wouldn’t be permanently based there, he said.
– "I know there’s sensitivity to Chinese military growth but the Seychelles has offered a platform that is complementary for all partners," he said, adding that the European Union[e] and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had also operated aircraft from his country.
– This year, the U.S. Africa Command redeployed unmanned drones to the Seychelles. A spokesman for Africom said the drones could be configured for either "surveillance or strike." U.S. officials said that this deployment would include armed drones, used to both monitor and potentially strike terrorist targets in east Africa.
China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on its website that the Seychelles had offered the use of its ports for "resupply, rest and reorganization," and that the navy was considering using ports there and in other countries in accordance with international practice.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Weimin, at a daily briefing on Tuesday said: "Such acts are completely transparent and should not worry other countries."
When asked if China was also discussing the offer to base personnel or planes in the Seychelles, Mr. Liu said: "I have not heard of this. On this issue China’s position is clear. China has never set up military bases in other countries."
—Julian E. Barnes, Adam Entous and Keith Johnson contributed to this article.