BEIJING: China’s defence ministry said yesterday that the country has no military bases overseas, despite speculation that its armed forces seek to eventually establish facilities abroad. “Currently, China has constructed no military base overseas,” ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said.
Geng was responding to a question about China’s policy toward overseas bases and under what condition the country might station ships or troops abroad.
In January last year, Pakistan’s cabinet approved the transfer of Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea from Singapore’s PSA International to the state-owned China Overseas Port Holdings Limited. Sri Lanka opened a new $450m deep-sea port in 2012 at Hambantota on its southern coast, built with Chinese loans and construction expertise and giving Beijing a vital foothold on the world’s busiest international shipping lane. A $500m Chinese-built port also opened in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo last year.
China counters that its rise to become the world’s second-largest economy is peaceful and that it poses no threat to the interests of other countries or regions. AFP
