The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) published on 14 December 2021 an analysis titled "China's New Military Base in Africa: What It Means for Europe and America" by Michael Tanchum.
Although the title of the analysis suggests that China has a military base in Equatorial Guinea, the body of the piece makes clear that the report is significant only "if true."
Comment: The ECFR story stems from a 6 December article in the Wall Street Journal that begins "Classified American intelligence reports suggest China intends to establish its first permanent military presence on the Atlantic Ocean in the tiny Central African country of Equatorial Guinea, according to [unnamed] U.S. officials."
These purposely leaked accounts tend to raise more questions than shed light and, if they are inaccurate, raise credibility about the sources. The dilemma with the report on Equatorial Guinea is that China has made clear it intends to build a navy with global reach and it obviously needs some kind of port facilities or guaranteed access to support that effort.
It is a fact that China is financing, building, managing, and making equity investments in ports around Africa. In addition to its military base in Djibouti on the Indian Ocean, it stands to reason that China intends to secure People's Liberation Army Navy access elsewhere around Africa. But this does not necessarily have to be in the form of a full-fledged military base such as it has in Djibouti. It could take numerous other forms short of a military base and China may conclude that is the better policy, at least for the time being.
