In November 2022, the PLA hosted the third International Army Forum on Military Education via video link from Nanjing. Participants from 21 military academies in 10 countries including Pakistan, Greece, Egypt, and Argentina discussed training and career paths for junior army officers. According to an official PLA news site, the annual forum seeks to foster dialogue and cooperation between Chinese military academies and other nations.
PLA OVERSEAS BASING AND ACCESS
Key Takeaways
- The PRC is seeking to expand its overseas logistics and basing infrastructure to allow the PLA to project and sustain military power at greater distances.
- A global PLA military logistics network could disrupt U.S. military operations as the PRC’s global military objectives evolve.
- Beyond the PLA support base in Djibouti, the PRC is very likely already considering and planning for additional military logistics facilities to support naval, air, and ground forces projection.
- In June 2022, a PRC official confirmed that the PLA would have access to parts of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base. The PRC probably also has considered other countries as locations for PLA military logistics facilities, including Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, Nigeria, Namibia, Mozambique, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Tajikistan.
The PRC is seeking to establish a more robust overseas logistics and basing infrastructure to allow the PLA to project and sustain military power at greater distances. Beijing may assess that a mixture of military logistics models, including preferred access to commercial infrastructure abroad, exclusive PLA logistics facilities with prepositioned supplies co-located with commercial infrastructure, and bases with stationed forces, most closely aligns with the PRC’s overseas military logistics needs. Some of the PRC’s BRI projects could create potential military advantages, such as PLA access to selected foreign ports to pre-position the necessary logistics support to sustain naval deployments in waters as distant as the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Atlantic Ocean to protect its growing interests.
- Official PRC sources assert that military logistics facilities, to include its Djibouti base, will be used to provide international public goods like HA/DR, and secure China’s lines of communication, citizens, and assets abroad. Regardless, a global PLA military logistics network could disrupt U.S. military operations as the PRC’s global military objectives evolve. Host nations can perform an essential role in regulating the PRC’s military operations, as PRC officials very likely recognize that a stable long-term relationship with the host nation is critical to the success of their military logistics facilities.
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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China
