China’s PLA navy increases African port calls in bid to cement Beijing’s diplomatic ties

China’s 45th naval fleet has in recent weeks visited Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar in what experts say is Beijing’s show of force designed to help cement the Asian powerhouse’s diplomatic ties in Africa.
After the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Navy stopped many of its African port visits during the Covid-19 pandemic, it has now begun increasing its port calls in a bid to cement diplomatic ties as well as show off China’s naval capabilities and military hardware, observers say. China’s 45th naval fleet has recently visited Madagascar after a five-day stopover in Tanzania in late March and a five-day port call in Mozambique in early April, all part of Beijing’s growing military diplomacy with the continent. Before that, the 45th naval fleet had completed an anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia.
The PLA Navy had, by the end of 2023, escorted more than 7,200 vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia in more than 1,600 missions, according to a report by state broadcaster CCTV. But China’s navy fleet did not operate just in the Gulf of Aden last year, as it also made port calls in Angola, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. “[The visits] provide positive publicity for both China and the African host,” says David Shinn, a professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. While some of these port calls have involved exercises with other navies and often gifts of low-cost items such as sports equipment are donated, Shinn notes that for China, though, it is ultimately about building security relationships and alliances.