Slowly but surely the Chinese master plan of colonizing Indian Ocean and its countries is materializing. The signals are unmistakable nobody in his right mind can deny it (except Prime Minister Of India). Some anlayst say it is to protect Beijing's economic interest, I beg to dis-agree. Yes everything at the end boils down to economics but China now see's itself as a superpower and wants an empire similar to what it had few thousand years ago. Thus it does not matter to them if they support tin-pot dictators or terrorist regimes.
In the past three weeks Beijing has committed to supporting Ugandan forces operating in Somalia and to helping the Seychelles fight piracy."It is very clear that the Chinese leaders recognize that military force will play a bigger role to safeguard China's overseas interests," Jonathan Holslag, of the Brussels Institute of Chinese Contemporary Studies said.
"There is a willingness, and even a consensus, in China, that this process will take place."
The Indian Ocean is strategic, Holslag said, noting that 85 percent of China's oil imports and 60 percent of its exports are routed via the Gulf of Aden.
It is believed that China only has three ships in gulf of Aden to fight piracy, and though the number seems insignificant it is the first step toward a larger role. You can say these ships are the Avon guard of a larger colonizing force coming behind. Even though at present the military co-operation is very low profile yet it can be turned up to full fledge bases at any time.
"The mere fact that China has a multi-year naval presence in the Gulf of Aden has great symbolic and diplomatic significance," said Frans-Paul van der Putten, senior research fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.
"Symbolic because it shows other countries that China is an emerging naval power in the region, and diplomatic because China uses its navy ships for occasional visits to ports along the Indian Ocean rim, which helps it strengthen its diplomatic ties with countries in the region," he added.
The shock came when Seychelles asked the Chinese to set up a naval base in their waters to protect them against the pirates. Does it sound familiar to Indian Readers, this was exactly the same excuse used by the British Colonizers in Indian sub-continent.
"China needs port infrastructure to supply its ships in the Indian Ocean, and covering a wider zone could make sense," said Mathieu Duchatel of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Beijing in its effort to stabilize Somalia where it has a huge economic interest has asked Uganda to use its military might and in return Uganda will get payed 2.3 million USD. It is like China is using these small countries to fight each other and once they are weak enough it can easily exploit them without having to pay any thing.
China has already started building a network to link Ethiopian oil reserves to a port in Somalia. So you can be assured that if war breaks out in Somalia China will do its utmost to keep a friendly government in power irrespective if that government is led by a terrorist.If Ethiopia fails to tow the line as per their liking then China with the help of Ugandan mercenary army and Somalia can engineer some kind of war in Ethiopia to get a better deal.
Though every military expert worth his salt has warned the Indian Government but the pacifist Manmohan Singh government turns a blind eye to the build up in the Indian ocean as it has done to the build up on the India's eastern border. What it fails to realize is that these steps will have a long time impact on the strategic balance.
Pakistan an arch enemy of the Indian Republic and a terrorist state has been cozing up to China just to get some kind of security umbrella, with China dominant in the Indian Ocean it will have no fear from the Indian Navy which is vastly superior to a non-existent Pakistani Navy.
Both Washington and New Delhi, already concerned about China's activities in the Pacific, take a dim view of its ambitions in the Indian Ocean.
In the past three weeks Beijing has committed to supporting Ugandan forces operating in Somalia and to helping the Seychelles fight piracy."It is very clear that the Chinese leaders recognize that military force will play a bigger role to safeguard China's overseas interests," Jonathan Holslag, of the Brussels Institute of Chinese Contemporary Studies said.
"There is a willingness, and even a consensus, in China, that this process will take place."
The Indian Ocean is strategic, Holslag said, noting that 85 percent of China's oil imports and 60 percent of its exports are routed via the Gulf of Aden.
It is believed that China only has three ships in gulf of Aden to fight piracy, and though the number seems insignificant it is the first step toward a larger role. You can say these ships are the Avon guard of a larger colonizing force coming behind. Even though at present the military co-operation is very low profile yet it can be turned up to full fledge bases at any time.
"The mere fact that China has a multi-year naval presence in the Gulf of Aden has great symbolic and diplomatic significance," said Frans-Paul van der Putten, senior research fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.
"Symbolic because it shows other countries that China is an emerging naval power in the region, and diplomatic because China uses its navy ships for occasional visits to ports along the Indian Ocean rim, which helps it strengthen its diplomatic ties with countries in the region," he added.
The shock came when Seychelles asked the Chinese to set up a naval base in their waters to protect them against the pirates. Does it sound familiar to Indian Readers, this was exactly the same excuse used by the British Colonizers in Indian sub-continent.
"China needs port infrastructure to supply its ships in the Indian Ocean, and covering a wider zone could make sense," said Mathieu Duchatel of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Beijing in its effort to stabilize Somalia where it has a huge economic interest has asked Uganda to use its military might and in return Uganda will get payed 2.3 million USD. It is like China is using these small countries to fight each other and once they are weak enough it can easily exploit them without having to pay any thing.
China has already started building a network to link Ethiopian oil reserves to a port in Somalia. So you can be assured that if war breaks out in Somalia China will do its utmost to keep a friendly government in power irrespective if that government is led by a terrorist.If Ethiopia fails to tow the line as per their liking then China with the help of Ugandan mercenary army and Somalia can engineer some kind of war in Ethiopia to get a better deal.
Though every military expert worth his salt has warned the Indian Government but the pacifist Manmohan Singh government turns a blind eye to the build up in the Indian ocean as it has done to the build up on the India's eastern border. What it fails to realize is that these steps will have a long time impact on the strategic balance.
Pakistan an arch enemy of the Indian Republic and a terrorist state has been cozing up to China just to get some kind of security umbrella, with China dominant in the Indian Ocean it will have no fear from the Indian Navy which is vastly superior to a non-existent Pakistani Navy.
Both Washington and New Delhi, already concerned about China's activities in the Pacific, take a dim view of its ambitions in the Indian Ocean.
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