China’s Building of Overseas Military Bases: Rationale and Challenges

Abstract

China’s military capability to perform out-of-area operations and provide international public goods falls short of the increasing need to protect its expanding economic, political, and security interests abroad. Overseas military bases can not only facilitate the soft application of China’s growing hard power, but also benefit the host nations in terms of national security, economic development, and job creation. A strong case can be made on both legal and precedential grounds for China’s construction of overseas military bases in the future. It is irreproachable for a great power like China to have overseas military installations as long as the Charter of the United Nations, host nations’ laws, and the longstanding non-intervention policy are upheld. Planning for overseas base-building must involve shaping an international environment that accepts Chinese military presence and conducting systemic risk assessments and practical solutions on such related matters as the location, size, functions, law enforcement, and maintenance of each military base.