As we all know, the Indian Ocean route is very important to China's economic development. On the one hand, oil and liquefied natural gas resources exported from the Persian Gulf need to come to China through the Indian Ocean-Strait of Malacca-South China Sea route and become the blood of our economic development; on the other hand, Chinese products also need to be exported to Africa through the South China Sea-Strait of Malacca-Indian Ocean , or exported to Europe through the Suez Canal-Mediterranean, the same is true for reverse trade. Therefore, the Indian Ocean route can be said to be one of the main arteries of my country's economic development.

However, in recent years, as the competition between China and the United States has intensified, and Sino-Indian relations have taken a turn for the worse due to the confrontation in the border area of the actual control line, some people in the political and military circles of the United States and India have expressed that they want to cut off China’s economic artery in the Indian Ocean. Moreover, frequent military exercises have begun, sharpening the knife, and it has become urgent for China to strengthen the security of this transportation channel.

In fact, China has seen this trend more than ten years ago and has been preparing for it for a long time. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, an American think tank, recently published a report summarizing China’s various efforts in the Middle East to safeguard energy security. From this report, we can find that China’s military influence in the Middle East has already It surpassed the construction of a military base in Djibouti and the escort operations in the Gulf of Aden.

How important is the Middle East to China's energy security? In 2021, the value of China's crude oil imports from countries along the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz will be as high as US$128 billion, three times that of the United States and the European Union combined. More than 45 percent of China's oil imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and Chinese experts have long called for greater cooperation with trading partners there to ensure the safe passage of energy.

So China has operations around the Arabian Peninsula, both in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. As early as the beginning of 2009, the Chinese navy began to carry out escort operations in the Gulf of Aden in Somalia, and it has never been interrupted until now. Overseas military operations require supply bases, especially combat ships, which need to regularly dock for supplies, so China has taken a key step: First, China has established its first overseas military facility in Djibouti since 2017. The base is just 110 kilometers from the Mandab Strait, which, along with the Suez Canal, is the main artery for transporting goods between Europe and Asia. Facing the smearing of China by Western countries in the region, China has adopted a strategy of putting the army first and then the people, investing in the construction of a large amount of civilian infrastructure for Djibouti, which has won considerable political influence for China in the local area, and finally contributed to the development of Djibouti's military Base construction. It should be pointed out that Djibouti also leases land to Western countries to build military bases. Not far from the Chinese military base in Djibouti, there are military bases in countries such as the United States, Japan, and France.

Then, China launched operations near the Strait of Hormuz. After years of unremitting efforts, the United Arab Emirates and Oman have finally opened their doors to welcome the PLA Navy ships.

At Khalifa Port in the United Arab Emirates, Cosco signed a $738 million deal in 2016 to build a container terminal there, including a 35-year deal in which China has exclusive design, construction and management rights for the terminal. In October 2022, China Harbor Engineering Company won the bid to build a new 700,000-square-meter container yard and 36 supporting buildings at the port. In January 2020, a Chinese naval task force of three ships stopped in Khalifa Port for five days. U.S. intelligence agencies accused China in 2021 of building a military facility in Khalifa Port, which China denies. But under China's 2017 National Defense Transportation Law, PLA ships have the right to resupply at ports operated by Chinese companies.

From 2008 to 2012, China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation built the Mount Habu-Fujairah oil pipeline. Several Chinese companies are also involved in the construction of the national Etihad rail network in the UAE. This rail network will link several ports with major trade and industrial centers throughout the Arabian Peninsula.

In Oman's Duqm Port, in May 2016, Oman Wanfang Group, a private Chinese company, signed a 50-year lease with the Duqm Special Economic Zone Authority to jointly develop the China-Oman Industrial Park. The United States speculates that China will build a fixed military facility in the port of Duqm. In fact, Oman is similar to Djibouti in that they have signed agreements with many countries to build military bases. The United Kingdom built a joint logistics support base in Duqm Port in 2017, and the U.S. and Indian navies have also obtained permission to call at the port. Similarly, Oman also welcomes the arrival of PLA ships.

Oman's Salalah Port is located about 480 kilometers southwest of Duqm Port. It is the port most frequently visited by PLA Navy ships participating in the escort operations in the Gulf of Aden, and it is also one of the supply bases for PLA ships. The port is also frequently visited by warships from other countries.

In 2021, the United States once banned the sale of F-35 fighter jets to the UAE to force the UAE not to purchase 5G network equipment from China's Huawei. However, the UAE still chose Huawei's 5G network and immediately purchased "Rafale" fighter jets from France. The United States has expressed its attitude. Similarly, Oman has opened its ports to many countries and allowed foreign countries to build military bases at the same time, and has not succumbed to the pressure of the United States and rejected the Chinese navy. The Gwadar Port in Pakistan, which is not far from the Persian Gulf, is a strategic project invested and constructed by China. It can be said that such a new situation in the Middle East is hard-won for China.Editor/XingWentao