China in the Suez Canal

Google Earth image of Suez Canal

Interesting report from Middle East Institute _"China’s growing maritime presence in Egypt's ports and the Suez Canal"

In recent years, China's presence in Egypt's strategic ports has grown noticeably. This includes the involvement of both private and state-owned Chinese companies in the partial acquisition, development, and operation of Egyptian seaports and terminals, with concessions of up to 38 years. In addition to a Chinese state-owned company holding stakes in two ports at the northern and southern entrances of the Suez Canal, a private Chinese firm also operates two strategic ports on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast and is developing and will eventually operate a third at Abu Qir Naval Base. This coincides with significant Chinese investments in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, a 455-sq-km special economic zone located along a maritime corridor of vital importance to global trade. While China's role in Egyptian ports reflects Beijing’s growing ambitions in the region, the opacity of the Sino-Egyptian agreements and the blurry lines between China's commercial ports and its military aspirations raise questions about the potential implications.

Read the whole thing. China is picking up its "presence" in a lot of key chokepoints of world trade.

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 25 January - 22 February 2023

Paragraph 2.A. is worth noting, aee also Worldwide-Maritime Port Vulnerabilities - Foreign Adversarial Technological, Physical, and Cyber Influence and LOGINK: Risks from China’s Promotion of a Global Logistics Management Platform (pdf)

Chinese control over shipping information in LOGINK could also enable Chinese military planners to conceal PLA actions and disrupt U.S. military operations. As U.S. Naval War College assistant professor Isaac Kardon explains, “If you control the information, you can move things around without others knowing, or jumble up someone else’s information.

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

Interesting graphic from the first link above:

China Games: "Pakistan politicians fear losing strategic islands to China"

From Nikkei Asia, a report of how China seems to be seeking strategic ports in Pakistan and near India and the vital oil lanes from the Strait of Hormuz: Pakistan politicians fear losing strategic islands to China

Pakistan's federal government has triggered a political uproar after taking direct control of two islands previously under the regional government of Sindh province.

President Arif Alvi signed the Pakistan Islands Development Authority (PIDA) ordinance last month to facilitate reclamation and urban planning on Bundal and Bhuddo islands, which are located south of Karachi. Both islands are some eight kilometers across, and the largest along Sindh's coast.

Government officials say PIDA has been created to develop the islands as commercial zones. Imran Ismail, Sindh's governor, has claimed that Bundal on its own can take on Dubai and attract investment of $50 billion -- equal to the amount already tagged for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key component in President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

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The ordinance is helpful to Beijing's expanding economic ambitions in Pakistan. Last month, it nominated Nong Rang as its ambassador to Islamabad. Unusually, he is a political appointee well versed in commerce and trade, and analysts believe this portends increased commercial and BRI activities.

Mohan Malik, a visiting fellow at Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, said the sudden way in which the two islands near Karachi have been placed under federal control shows that something is afoot. He told Nikkei that the ordinance's stated goals of developing the islands for trade, investment and international tourism "seem to have been taken straight out of Beijing's BRI playbook."

 

Interesting,

New Ambitions? Chinese claiming Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan part of China

From an Indian news source Now, Chinese websites claim Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan part of China; draws ire of Central Asia

After claiming large portions of the South China Sea and Mt Everest, two Chinese

websites have been claiming that central Asian countries like Kyrgystan and Kazakhstan have been part of China and with Kazakhstan even "eager to return back to China".

Tuotiao.com headquartered in Beijing in a recently published article titled "Why didn't Kyrgyzstan return to China after gaining Independence?". It elaborated that under the Khan dynasty, 510,000 square kilometre of Kyrgystan, which means the entire country was part of Chinese lands but the Russian empire took over the territory.

The article explained that like Mongolia, Kyrgystan has been part of the Chinese territory.

Toutiao.com has a readership of 750 million and is China's largest mobile platform of content creation.

Meanwhile, Sohu.com, another major Chinese internet company headquartered in Beijing published an article which said: "Kazakhstan is located on territories that historically belong to China". This prompted an immediate summoning of the Chinese envoy to the country Zhang Xiao April 14 over the article.

Of course, China would like to have the territory through which its energy needs could be met and doesn't involve vulnerable sea routes. Kazakhstan does sit on an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil.

China is not into playing well with others.