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| DATE | 2021-11-29 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] China and the middle east
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WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE MIDDLE EAST
Secret Chinese Port Project in Persian Gulf Rattles U.S. Relations With
U.A.E.
Alarmed U.S. officials warned Emirati government, a Mideast ally, that
Chinese military presence could hinder ties; construction has halted
U.S. officials believe China was secretly building a military facility
at a port about 50 miles north of Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E.’s capital.
PHOTO: NIR ELIAS/REUTERS
By Gordon Lubold and Warren P. Strobel
Updated Nov. 19, 2021 8:00 am ET
WASHINGTON—U.S. intelligence agencies learned this spring that China was
secretly building what they suspected was a military facility at a port
in the United Arab Emirates, one of the U.S.’s closest Mideast allies,
according to people familiar with the matter.
Alarmed, the Biden administration warned the Emirati government that a
Chinese military presence in its country could threaten ties between the
two nations. After rounds of meetings and visits by U.S. officials,
construction was recently halted, according to people familiar with the
matter.
The intelligence findings and U.S. warnings concerned a site at a port
near the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi. People familiar with the matter
said it appeared the Emirati government, which hosts U.S. military
forces and is seeking to buy advanced American jet fighters and drones,
was unaware of the military nature of China’s activity.
China’s effort to establish what U.S. officials believe would be a
military foothold in the U.A.E.—and the Biden administration’s push to
persuade the Emiratis to stop the base from being built—reflect the
challenges the administration faces in attempting to compete with
Beijing globally.
The Middle East increasingly appears to be a primary ground for
U.S.-Chinese competition.
U.S. intelligence reports indicated suspicious Chinese activity at the
U.A.E. port of Khalifa, where China’s giant COSCO shipping conglomerate
had built and now operates a commercial container terminal
PHOTO: SATISH KUMAR/REUTERS
The U.S. played a central role in the region for decades, supporting the
creation of the state of Israel, basing troops in the region, and
recently brokering the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between
Israel and some Gulf states, including the U.A.E. Beijing has countered
with trade deals and vaccine diplomacy—and now appears to be trying to
expand its military presence.
The trajectory of Chinese activity at the port in the U.A.E. began as
have other attempts by the Chinese, with Beijing leveraging commercial
ties to establish an anchor for its military. China opened its first
military outpost abroad in the East African nation of Djibouti in 2017
to facilitate operations around the Indian Ocean and Africa. In Cambodia
in 2019, China signed a secret agreement to allow its armed forces to
use a navy base. Elsewhere, China has built commercial port facilities
in Pakistan and Sri Lanka that could be used by its rapidly expanding navy.
In recent years, China has strengthened its economic ties with the
U.A.E. and is now one of its largest trading partners as well as the
biggest consumer of Gulf oil. The U.A.E., meanwhile, has embraced
China’s Huawei Technologies Co.’s telecom infrastructure, which senior
Western officials warn leaves it vulnerable to Chinese espionage.
Beijing has denied the allegation.
About a year ago, intelligence reports started trickling in to U.S.
officials indicating suspicious Chinese activity at Khalifa port, about
50 miles north of Abu Dhabi, where China’s giant Cosco shipping
conglomerate had built and now operates a commercial container terminal,
people familiar with matter said.
The initial information was inconclusive, the people said. But this
spring, classified satellite imagery led U.S. officials to conclude that
the Chinese were building some sort of military installation at the
port. The Biden administration was alarmed and launched an intense
diplomatic effort to persuade the Emiratis that the site had a military
purpose and that it should stop the construction, the people familiar
with the matter said.
“The U.A.E. has never had an agreement, plan, talks or intention to host
a Chinese military base or outpost of any kind,” a U.A.E. Embassy
spokesman in Washington said.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the U.A.E.’s de
facto leader, spoke with President Biden about China’s growing presence
in the country.
PHOTO: ANDY RAIN/BLOOMBERG NEWS
A spokesman for China’s Embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond
to a request to comment.
Among other clues, U.S. intelligence agencies this spring detected the
excavation of a huge hole to accommodate a multistory building and the
erection of girders, a person familiar with the matter said. At some
point, the construction site was covered over to prevent scrutiny.
People familiar with the matter declined to provide more detail about
the nature of the suspected military site.
The U.A.E. is one of the U.S.’s closest Middle East allies, and the two
countries have longstanding trade and security ties, making China’s
incursion there even more potentially menacing to U.S. interests.
The Gulf nation is a major oil and gas producer, hosts U.S. military
forces, cooperated with Washington on counterterrorism matters, and was
the first Arab country to send troops to Afghanistan following the U.S.
invasion in late 2001. More recently, it has temporarily hosted Afghan
refugees evacuated from Kabul following the collapse of the Afghan
government over the summer.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
How should the U.S. respond to China’s global expansion? Join the
conversation below.
President Biden expressed concern about China’s growing presence in the
country directly with its de facto leader, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, officials said, in May and again in
August. In one talk, he told MBZ, as the crown prince is known, that the
U.S. feared China’s activity could have a detrimental impact on the
partnership.
MBZ replied he had heard Mr. Biden “loud and clear,” according to the
officials.
That conversation left U.S. officials unsure whether the Emiratis were
committed to keeping China out of the country.
American and Emirati officials held numerous discussions about the
Khalifa port issue earlier this year, people familiar with the matter
said. Then in late September, during a visit to Abu Dhabi, White House
national security adviser Jake Sullivan and top Mideast aide Brett
McGurk made a detailed presentation on the U.S. intelligence about the
Chinese site, a person familiar with the matter said. Mr. McGurk
returned this week to meet with the crown prince and U.S. officials also
recently carried out an inspection of the site, the person said, adding
that officials believe that for now construction has ceased.
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Concerns over nascent security cooperation between China and the U.A.E.
have potentially threatened a planned $23 billion sale of as many as 50
U.S. F-35 fifth-generation fighter aircraft, 18 Reaper drones and other
advanced munitions.
For its part, the U.A.E. is seeking a strategic pact with Washington
that would secure the U.S.’s commitment to come to its defense if it is
attacked, a person familiar with the matter. In recent years, Gulf Arab
countries, who see a threat from Iran, have questioned the strength of
the American commitment. They have watched the U.S. shift its focus to
Asia, and the concerns grew, Gulf officials say, following the chaotic
U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The halt in construction appeared to put Washington’s relationship with
Abu Dhabi back on track. On Tuesday, Mira Resnick, deputy assistant
secretary of state for regional security, said in Dubai, a U.A.E.
commercial center, that the F-35 and MQ-9 Reaper drone deal with the
U.A.E. would move forward following “a robust and sustained dialogue”
with the Emiratis. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to visit
Abu Dhabi this weekend.
Meanwhile, a top U.A.E. official last month lamented that the U.A.E. is
stuck in the middle of the showdown between the U.S. and China.
“We’re all worried, very much, by a looming Cold War,” Anwar Gargash, a
U.A.E. presidential adviser, said at an Oct. 2 conference in the
capital. “That is bad news for all of us because the idea of choosing is
problematic in the international system.”
Write to Gordon Lubold at Gordon.Lubold-at-wsj.com and Warren P. Strobel at
Warren.Strobel-at-wsj.com
Copyright ©2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared in the November 20, 2021, print edition as 'China Move in
U.A.E. Thwarted.'
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