According to a Daily Mail report, Beijing is attempting to reassure Equatorial Guinea that it will not invade its borders by building a military base off their coast. This move would give Beijing a foothold in the Atlantic, and deeply worry Washington.
Xi Jinping is intent on getting Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of the West African nation, on permitting the expansion of Bata's existing port and its conversion into a military base due to a report by US intelligence officials.
It would allow Beijing to recondition and equip its warships in the same waters where the Eastern Seaboard of the United States is situated if Bata were converted into a military base, said the report.
A senior Biden administration official told The Wall Street Journal on Saturday that the Bush administration has made clear that certain activities involving (Chinese) activity in Equatorial Guinea will raise national-security concerns.
In light of tensions between the two nations over Taiwan and Covid, the Pentagon previously said that a Chinese military base in American waters would be a nightmare scenario for Washington.
In 2017, Chinese military forces opened a new base in Djibouti, on the other side of Africa, that overlooks the waters of the Gulf of Aden. That is the only overseas base China has.