China appears to be eyeing its first permanent military base on the shores of Africa's Atlantic coast, and Washington – not keen on the idea – has already started a diplomatic effort to put the kibosh on any plans, a report said.
U.S. officials, citing classified American intelligence reports, told the Wall Street Journal that Beijing could be eyeing Equatorial Guinea’s port city of Bata for the base. The report said Bata already comes with a deep-water port that had been upgraded by China Road & Bridge Co. from 2009 to 2014. The report said U.S. intelligence first learned of the possibility of the base in 2019.
