Abstract
China’s Strategic Strongpoints: Overseas Ports and Maritime Power
Isaac B. Kardon, U.S. Naval War CollegeChinese state-owned enterprises now own or operate over half of the world’s major ports. Propelled by a maritime trade–intensive economic model and guided by foreign policies now collectively called the Belt and Road Initiative, these firms have established commercial beachheads astride maritime chokepoints and proximate to growth markets and resource-rich regions. Chinese officials and analysts increasingly refer to these ports as “strategic strongpoints” that collectively form an enabling network for China’s broader maritime objectives. This study draws together a database of all Chinese port projects to date and analyzes their probable functions based on geography, port capacity and characteristics, and bilateral relationship with the host nation. The provisional finding is that a proliferation of Chinese military bases is unlikely but also unnecessary, because the peacetime use of commercial ports already provides considerable logistical, political, and economic advantages to China.
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