US claims China considering military facility in Sri Lanka

China is reportedly considering pursuing military facilities in multiple locations, including in Sri Lanka, as per the latest report by US Intelligence Community.

These facilities are beyond developing its military base in Djibouti and its military facility at Ream Naval Base in Cambodia.

“Beijing will focus on building a fully modernised national defence and military force by 2035 and for the PLA to become a world-class military by 2049. In the meantime, the CCP hopes to use the PLA to secure what it claims is its sovereign territory, to assert its preeminence in regional affairs, and to project power globally, particularly by being able to deter and counter an intervention by the US in a cross-Strait conflict,” the assessment by the US intelligence said.

However, China lacks recent warfighting experience, which probably would weaken the PLA’s effectiveness and leaders’ willingness to initiate a conflict, it said.

“Xi Jinping’s prioritisation of security and stability for the CCP is undermining China’s ability to solve complex domestic problems,” it added.

“Beijing’s hardline approach to alleged separatism in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Tibet, as well as broader crackdowns on religion and dissent in China, have generated widespread global criticism of China’s human rights abuses and extraterritorial interference,” it added. (IANS / Colombo Gazette)