China's Plan For Military Base On Africa's Atlantic Coast Rings Alarm Bells In US: Report

China is planning to set up its first military base on the Atlantic Ocean, in the Central African country of Equatorial Guinea, classified American intelligence reports said.

This will help Chinese warships "rearm and refit" opposite the East Coast of the U.S., a prospect that has caused concern in the White House and Pentagon, said an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal.

The report added that Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer visited Equatorial Guinea in October to convince President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and his son Vice President Teodoro “Teodorin” Nguema Obiang Mangue to reject China's overtures.

"As part of our diplomacy to address maritime-security issues, we have made clear to Equatorial Guinea that certain potential steps involving [Chinese] activity there would raise national-security concerns," a senior Biden administration official was quoted by the news outlet.

The White House had then said in a statement that the two nations discussed "ways to enhance maritime security and end the COVID-19 pandemic."

In April, Gen. Stephen Townsend, who serves as commander of U.S. Africa Command, had told the Senate that China's "most significant threat" would be "a militarily useful naval facility on the Atlantic coast of Africa."

"By militarily useful I mean something more than a place that they can make port calls and get gas and groceries. I’m talking about a port where they can rearm with munitions and repair naval vessels," Townsend added.

Beijing may zero in on Guinea’s port city of Bata for the base, where China Road & Bridge Co.already upgraded a deep-water commercial port from 2009 to 2014. The U.S. intelligence first learned of the possibility of the base in 2019.

This comes as tensions between the U.S. and China worsen amid issues like Taiwan. Though China had urged the U.S. not to "play with fire" by interfering in Taiwan's independence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday there will be "terrible consequences" if China were to invade Taiwan and take the island by force.

Recently, there were reports that China was eyeing setting up military bases in Africa. The People's Liberation Army established its first military base on Africa’s east coast in Djibouti in 2017. The U.S. officials had then described the Chinese facility as being "right outside our gates" of the U.S. base at Camp Lemonnier.

A facility in Equatorial Guinea will also aid in deploying forces to protect Chinese investments in the western part of Africa. Over the last decade, the country has been investing heavily in the continent, pledging $60 billion in infrastructure and development funding. It has also been expanding the number of embassies on the continent to 52, three more than the U.S. has.