Nevertheless, this tropical island in the Indian Ocean has become the unsettling epicenter of a conflict between US-China.
The remote Chagos Archipelago is at the center of this conflict. Except for the island of Diego Garcia, which is home to a significant Anglo-American military base, it is uninhabited.
US-China Strategic Key in a Rivalry for Power and Control
It is Washington’s most significant asset in the huge Indo-Pacific region west of Pearl Harbor. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence but is on loan to the US.
All of America’s major adversaries are within striking distance of its B-52 bombers to the north. From the base’s two-mile-long runway, bombs could be dropped on Iraq and Afghanistan.
The US might even fire cruise missiles deep into China or into Russia’s exposed southern flank. Its aircraft can fly over important commerce routes, maritime lanes, and even possible Chinese bases from Pakistan to Djibouti.
In other words, this 27 square kilometer atoll is crucial to the security of the West.
But now that China’s President Xi Jinping has set his sights on the island, Britain and America’s ownership of Diego Garcia is in jeopardy.
In the 19th century, Britain seized Mauritius from France, and it remained a British possession until 1968.
But, in order to make room for the US base on Diego Garcia, Britain evicted the locals from the Chagos Archipelago in the 1960s and 1970s.
Whitehall was chosen because it could contain Washington’s listening station and key airbase, allowing it to keep a watch on the Soviet Union from the south.
At that time, Mauritius had no control over what happened to its distant island dependents.
However, the globe’s order has altered, and the rallying cries of the Mauritians have awakened the world.
The Race for Naval Bases in the Indian Ocean
China aims to capitalize on the nationalism and nostalgia of the many Mauritius citizens who are of Chinese descent as a result of a migration plan designed by French colonizers.
China has been expanding its own sphere of influence along important trade routes in the South China Sea for a very long time.
Beijing is currently trying to secure its long-distance routes through the Indian Ocean – to the oil of the Middle East.
They promote their international trade by establishing their own navy and bases in the area.
China is attempting to obtain a base to rival America’s on Diego Garcia. Washington wouldn’t like that, of course.
Yet, China had previously acquired a rival base to the American one in the same nation. The East African coast microstate of Djibouti already has three military installations that are owned by France, China, and the United States.
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