When Chinese naval supply vessel Qiandaohu entered Australia's Albany
Port this month to replenish Chinese warships helping search for a
missing Malaysian airliner, it highlighted a strategic headache for
Beijing; its lack of offshore bases and friendly ports to call on.
China's deployment for the search – 18 warships, smaller coastguard
vessels, a civilian cargo ship and an Antarctic icebreaker has
stretched the supply lines and logistics of its rapidly expanding navy,
Chinese analysts and regional military attaches say.
China's naval planners know they will have to fill this strategic gap
to meet Beijing's desire for a fully operational blue-water navy by 2050; especially if access around Southeast Asia or beyond is needed in
times of tension.
China is determined to eventually challenge Washington's traditional
naval dominance across the Asia Pacific and is keen to be able to
protect its own strategic interests across the Indian Ocean and Middle
East.
As China's military presence and projection increases, it will want to
have these kind of (port) arrangements in place, just as the US 
does,
said Ian Storey, a regional security expert at Singapore's Institute of
South East Asian Studies.
does,
said Ian Storey, a regional security expert at Singapore's Institute of
South East Asian Studies.
The United States, by contrast, has built up an extensive network of
full bases – Japan, Guam and Diego Garcia – buttressed by formal
security alliances and access and repair agreements with friendly
countries, including strategic ports in Singapore and Malaysia.
While China is building up its fortified holdings on islands and reefs
in the disputed South China Sea, its most significant southernmost base
remains on Hainan Island, still some 3,000 nautical miles away from
where Chinese warships have been searching for missing Malaysia Airlines
flight MH370.
Military attaches say foreign port access is relatively easy to arrange
during peace-time humanitarian efforts – such as the search for MH370
or during anti-piracy patrols off the Horn of Africa – but moments of
tension or conflict are another matter.
If there was real tension and the risk of conflict between China and a
US ally in East Asia, then it is hard to imagine Chinese warships being
allowed to enter Australian ports for re-supply, said one
Beijing-based analyst who watches China's naval build-up.
Source: Reuters
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