Pier Competitor: China's Power Position in Global Ports

Summary

China’s global commercial port expansion and Chinese firms’ ties to the Party-state reveal multiple mechanisms that permit the Chinese leadership to use these ports for strategic purposes. International port terminals owned and operated by Chinese firms provide dual-use capabilities to the People's Liberation Army during peacetime. They support logistics and intelligence networks that materially enable China to project power into critical regions worldwide. Thus, overseas military bases are not the sole index of global power projection capabilities.