04-25-2004, 09:58 PM
<b>China seeks Maldives base again</b>
24 April 2004: Confronted by some Western powers, Maldives has admitted to secretly receiving a Chinese Peoplesâ Liberation Army-Navy team early last month, but its explanation that the team carried out preliminary oceanic and environmental studies is not being believed.
Nearly three years ago, we scooped Chinaâs plans to establish a submarine base in Marao (Special Report, âChina: Base strategy ,â 27 July 2001), one of the largest of the 1192 coral islands grouped into atolls that comprise Maldives, but premature publicity scuttled the project, and diplomats say the Peoplesâ Republic may be at it again.
The PLA-N team met Maldivesâ prime minister and defence minister, apparently surveyed the ocean within a radius of 180 kilometers from Male, the capital, and enquired about setting up observatories and disaster-management centres, because the island nation may be submerged by 2040, since global warming is pushing up ocean and sea levels.
Marao will be one of the few islands to survive submergence, and in any case, submerged coral islands make better submarine pens.
When Western countries first confronted Maldives with the PLA-N visit, the island officials mumbled about joint naval exercises, but later gave environmental cover to it, but diplomats concede that China would prefer to start uncontroversially and then unveil its full plans.
<b>Chinaâs big worry is the extended lease of the USâs Diego Garcia base, and American moves to deploy submarines in the Malacca Strait despite Malaysia and Indonesiaâs refusal to give permission in February, and the certain presence of at least two US submarines in the Taiwan Strait to defend Taiwan against China</b>.
âNo one is certain of Chinese intentions this time,â a diplomat said. âIt could be a base the Chinese want, because they want to break out of the growing American stranglehold.â
Sources could not confirm if the Indian government knows about the visit of the PLA-N team to Maldives.
24 April 2004: Confronted by some Western powers, Maldives has admitted to secretly receiving a Chinese Peoplesâ Liberation Army-Navy team early last month, but its explanation that the team carried out preliminary oceanic and environmental studies is not being believed.
Nearly three years ago, we scooped Chinaâs plans to establish a submarine base in Marao (Special Report, âChina: Base strategy ,â 27 July 2001), one of the largest of the 1192 coral islands grouped into atolls that comprise Maldives, but premature publicity scuttled the project, and diplomats say the Peoplesâ Republic may be at it again.
The PLA-N team met Maldivesâ prime minister and defence minister, apparently surveyed the ocean within a radius of 180 kilometers from Male, the capital, and enquired about setting up observatories and disaster-management centres, because the island nation may be submerged by 2040, since global warming is pushing up ocean and sea levels.
Marao will be one of the few islands to survive submergence, and in any case, submerged coral islands make better submarine pens.
When Western countries first confronted Maldives with the PLA-N visit, the island officials mumbled about joint naval exercises, but later gave environmental cover to it, but diplomats concede that China would prefer to start uncontroversially and then unveil its full plans.
<b>Chinaâs big worry is the extended lease of the USâs Diego Garcia base, and American moves to deploy submarines in the Malacca Strait despite Malaysia and Indonesiaâs refusal to give permission in February, and the certain presence of at least two US submarines in the Taiwan Strait to defend Taiwan against China</b>.
âNo one is certain of Chinese intentions this time,â a diplomat said. âIt could be a base the Chinese want, because they want to break out of the growing American stranglehold.â
Sources could not confirm if the Indian government knows about the visit of the PLA-N team to Maldives.