London

The British newspaper The Telegraph has carried a report about China’s construction of a secret military base in Tajikistan. This publication followed the SCO summit in Astana and the visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

The newspaper notes that the facility has been under construction for 10 years in a hard-to-reach area at an altitude of 13,000 feet or about 3,900 meters above sea level, and that troops from both countries are present at the base. However, the governments of both countries deny this information, according to the newspaper.

According to The Telegraph, China needs a base in Tajikistan:

– Due to the unstable situation in Afghanistan and to “create a forward line of defense” on the Tajikistan border,

– To maintain control over the Uyghurs in Xinjiang,

– To continue cooperation with Dushanbe in the framework of counter-terrorism policy,

– To protect its investments in Tajikistan (currently 40% of the republic’s external debt is owed to China).

The newspaper also notes China’s widespread expansion in Tajikistan: a monopoly in the mining industry, Chinese road infrastructure, Chinese cars, and products in the markets.

For Tajikistan, significant economic dependence on China will sooner or later turn into political and security dependence, according to The Telegraph.

However, the “secret base” itself in GBAO is not such a big secret. An agreement on the construction of a military facility, for which about 100 million somoni (over $9 million) was allocated, was signed between Beijing and Dushanbe in 2021. However, it was conceived as an anti-terrorist base, with control to be exercised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan.

Read: Six trends of the “Great Game” around Central Asia

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Courtesy: Central Asian Light (Posted on July 11, 2024)

The post China continues to build ‘Secret’ military base in Tajikistan – Telegraph first appeared on Sindh Courier.