Chinese Warships Patrolling Off America's East Coast?

June 20, 2016: A Chinese fleet participates in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) multinational naval exercises with US warships in west Pacific Ocean. /Xinhua Photo  

Gordon G. Chang, Gatestone Institute: Coming Soon: China's Navy Patrolling Off New York 

* Chinese planners are not only thinking of the continent [Africa], they are also eyeing islands in the Atlantic, specifically Terceira, one of the Azores. 

* On that island, part of Portugal, there is a port and, of even greater interest, Air Base No. 4. Better known as Lajes Field, the facility is jointly operated by the U.S. Air Force and its Portuguese counterpart. 

* If China controlled the base, the Atlantic would no longer be secure.... Chinese planes could patrol the northern and central portions of the Atlantic and thereby cut air and sea traffic between the U.S. and Europe. Beijing would also be able to deny access to the nearby Mediterranean Sea. 

* Pentagon budget cutters have been scaling back activities at Lajes, making it a "ghost base." As a result, Lajes is ripe for China to take it over. 

* China could get a base even closer than [Lajes]. About 90 miles east of Palm Beach, on Grand Bahama Island, a Hong Kong-based business is spending about $3 billion on a deep-water container facility, the Freeport Container Port.  

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WNU Editor: Before the Chinese navy patrol the east coast, they will first be patrolling the west coast.