Washington: US intelligence agencies found evidences of construction work this year, which is believed to be an old secret Chinese military facility in the United Arab Emirates, which was stopped after Washington’s intervention, according to a report on Friday. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, a satellite imagery of the port of Khalifa had revealed suspicious construction work inside a container terminal built and operated by a Chinese shipping corporation, Cosco.
The evidence reportedly includes huge excavations, apparently for a multi-storey building and the fact that the site was covered in an apparent attempt to evade scrutiny. The report comes four years after the Chinese navy established a facility in Djibouti, its first overseas base, which was placed within a Chinese-run commercial port, at Doraleh.
The report added that the Biden administration held urgent talks with the UAE authorities, who appeared to be unaware of the military activities. It added that the discussions included two direct conversations between Joe Biden and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, in May and August.
The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and the White House Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, went to the UAE and presented the details of the US intelligence on the site to the Emirati authorities in late September, with McGurk returning this week to meet the crown prince. The construction work was suspended after the US officials recently inspected the Khalifa site.
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The UAE embassy in Washington refrained from an immediate response when requested to comment on the issue but declined the news and told Wall Street Journal that ‘the UAE has never had an agreement plan, talks or intention to host a Chinese military base or outpost of any kind’. ‘The Emiratis have said this isn’t happening. I refer you to the Emiratis about this specific project. But I can tell you that we are committed to our enduring partnership between the United States and the UAE’, a senior US official said.
The UAE report is said to be the latest example of an increasingly pointed global rivalry between the US and China. The state department has also warned Beijing that the US would intervene to defend Philippines ships in the event of an armed Chinese attack, following an incident in which Chinese naval vessels used water cannon against Philippine resupply boats in the South China Sea.
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