The United States is preparing an economic and security assistance package for Gabon in an attempt to prevent China from establishing a military base in the strategic Central African state.
This was reported by Bloomberg which cited unknown sources familiar with the matter. According to reports, the US is reportedly looking to provide $5 million in funds for Gabon’s democratic transition and training for the country’s special forces.
The US move is reportedly in response to what American authorities claim are Chinese plans to set up a military training facility on the nation’s Atlantic coast. American officials believe this facility may be a stepping stone toward a permanent installation.
According to the sources, the package — which is still in the works — will be unveiled when Gabonese President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema visits the US in late September or early October. In addition, Gabon will receive assistance to protect its national parks, fortify its ties with the West Virginia National Guard, and deploy radar to track illegal fishing.
Although a White House spokesperson stated that none of its policies are directed against any country, the US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell had allegedly cautioned during meetings with Nguema in July that any Chinese military training facility would probably be a prelude to a more permanent presence, as was the case in Djibouti.
The reports follow China’s meeting with Gabonese President Nguema on the sidelines of the triennial Forum of China and Africa (FOCAC), which concluded on September 6. China and Gabon have strong diplomatic ties, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has highlighted that this year is the 50th anniversary of the two nations’ diplomatic relations.
While there was no mention of a military base or a security agreement between the two countries, suspicions about China’s willingness to establish a military facility in the country have existed for some time.
In April last year, the two countries elevated ties to the “comprehensive strategic partnership level” during a visit of former Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba to Beijing.
At that time, China said that the “Chinese military stands ready to work with the Gabonese side to earnestly fulfill the important consensuses reached by the two heads of state, intensify high-level exchanges, and actively carry out all-round pragmatic cooperation, to uplift both the level and quality of mil-to-mil relations and make positive contributions to international and regional peace and stability.”
Since then, the Central African nation has seen significant political transformation. In August 2023, a military junta overthrew President Ali Bongo, and new President Nguema took on the leadership. Despite the regime change, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has maintained relations with the resource-rich nation by cooperating with the junta government.
Before the regime change, there were rumors that the former President had promised China a military port. However, to the dismay of the US, a report published in North Africa Post in May 2024 suggested that the new President had purposefully maintained ambiguity over it.
China established its first-ever overseas military base in Djibouti, at the Horn of Africa in 2017, perturbing the United States as the base would give it the ability to project power in the Indian Ocean. Nevertheless, the United States views the establishment of a Chinese base along the Atlantic Coast as a critical threshold that must not be crossed.
China Wants Global Military Bases
China is attempting to build an elite military capable of projecting power globally, pushing for facilities in Africa and other continents. The United States perceives these initiatives as a challenge to its ability to maintain a military advantage over China and as part of a larger strategic competition between the world’s two largest economies.
With a military presence in Gabon, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would be able to expand into the Atlantic Ocean from its current waters in the Indo-Pacific and Gulf of Aden. Chinese ships would be able to refuel and restock at such safe sites at a base in the region, enabling the PLA to conduct longer and farther missions than are currently feasible.
Additionally, the United States’ apprehension and resistance to the establishment of a Chinese port in Gabon are not without justification, as they seem to reflect a recurring strategy employed by China.
In 2016, China initiated the development of the port in Djibouti, and by 2017, a support base for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was established in that nation. Since then, China has augmented its presence at the base and has taken steps to militarize it.
And China is unlikely to stop. A 2021 Pentagon report said that China is “seeking to establish a more robust overseas logistics and basing infrastructure … to support naval, air, ground, cyber, and space power projection.”
Other than Cambodia, it has “likely considered several countries”, including Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania.
A Pentagon assessment from 2023 warned that China has likely evaluated the following 18 nations as potential sites for “military logistics facilities,” including Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, Myanmar, and Pakistan. US officials also believe that Beijing had previously advocated for military access in Equatorial Guinea and Angola.
The sources cited by Bloomberg also said China is presently working to gain military port access in Tanzania and Mozambique, which are on the eastern coast of Africa. According to the sources, it has also worked to obtain status-of-forces agreements with both countries, which would provide China with legal justification for stationing soldiers there.
It would strengthen China’s ability to project power into the Indian Ocean and the Middle East, even though the United States would likely be more concerned about access to the Atlantic than a Chinese military presence on Africa’s eastern coast.
China is also allegedly building a military base in Cambodia, in addition to Africa, even though both countries have denied these reports. China has completed the construction of a port in the Ream naval facility in the Gulf of Thailand and is expected to turn it over to the Cambodian government authorities soon.
On its part, the United States has expressed alarm and issued warnings regarding Ream’s alleged development as China’s first military facility.
The strategically located Ream facility, near the entrance of the Gulf of Thailand, has long been used by the Cambodian Navy as a point of entry into the South China Sea and other areas. This has triggered concerns in the West as well as China’s regional adversaries that the base would someday turn into a Chinese Navy outpost.
The United States is taking serious measures regarding Gabon, as an agreement for the construction of a port between Gabon and China has yet to be finalized. It appears that the US is attempting to adjust its approach after previously neglecting Africa, in contrast to China, which has invested billions of dollars in the continent through its well-known Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
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