Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Chinese Port Activity in the Indo-Pacific Region

Washington-based C4ADS, a non-profit organization dedicated to data-driven analysis, recently published a study titled "Harbored Ambitions: How China's Port Investments Are strategically Reshaping the Indo-Pacific" by Devin Thorne and Ben Spevack.

The report evaluates China's maritime infrastructure investment goals in the Indo-Pacific within the context of both policy from official documents and analyses from state- and Communist Party-affiliated publications. The authors found that Chinese analysts unofficially discussing port investments routinely prioritize China's national security interests over the objective of mutually beneficial economic development, contradicting the position of official policy documents.