painters don't just total goods, they hold something else to power and china is all in. that's why they've been investing massively in ports all over the world to china probably have stakes in afford, near you. they're creating a network and it goes beyond trade. this is a story about the promises sprawling ambition and a plan to dominate the seas the but let start small. let's go to creepy and cameron. it's a coastal town known for its sandy beaches and fresh fish. now it's also home to a deep water seaport built by china just down the coast. this is what the coast by creepy looked like on satellite images about 20 years ago. not too much going on in

2011. a chinese state owned construction company started building the port with the help of the camera and in government, you can see how quickly it pops up here along with the highway that connects creepy to the rest of the country. china invested over $1000000000.00 to open the port in 2018. the idea, as outlined in this promotional video, to turn creevy into a key trade hub for all of central in west africa. china promised fireworks and local say the port has certainly change things here. no product could be uh, it'd be them up there. okay. give it to me. my name is on the phone share today says that shave way money. see the quote that that many people who did the for the web disagree, i book without pause. i posted them and it isn't just crazy. and camera in

china's port promise is attractive for governments. they lend you money, you hire a chinese state owned construction firm. they quickly build you a port and that connects you to a global trade kind of a patient. we saw because the china has of strong stay on the enterprises china, very efficient to how to look at that. so that's, that's basically the sauce me from time. that's one you way. he's director of the institute of international affairs at redman university of china in beijing and is a former chinese diplomat. also a ton of each. those might be, i think, this mutual benefit and in return china promises not to get involved in your politics. no matter what. by the way, china's involvement isn't the same in every port. for example, it can vary from 100 percent ownership to a minority steak. but the pitch has been successful in the global south,

especially in african countries, out of around $160.00 ports with china has stakes in $53.00 are on the african continent. start shooting the point you soon by 6, they did a bit good. the exhaust or dead good demo, cross the lot bunkerville niles on golf. i let this yonder job or lead me out the 6. yeah. a lot, shooting the las go ahead to where it says that there are some guys you some so some point they say point issue now to the key itself is and i'm affected by let be talk, she's out there or another reason why african countries might be wary of western investment as well. the last few 100 years of western colonialism change. and now why should you go go book a board or the chinese she finally said that parts in china,

a sound good quantum about father, real good job by law son jones for not china still calls itself a developing country and says it's an equal partner, as opposed to the west, but china is deals with global south countries still serve china's interests like increasing. because as we'll see, each of these ports is just one small part of a bigger strategy. the enter the belts and road initiatives by building roads, railways and seaports. china wants to connect the world and one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever conceived to handle that all jones young man hold your dish bank. when the belt and road initiative launched in 2013,

it was initially suppose to connect china and europe. just like china's ancient silk road they face. now china is tapping into markets in the global south sunday. so we need to find a new money for our time. and to those countries also be going to share the experiences kind of wondering as ation. like a chinese smoking coast, if you want to kind of reached go that route. here's the network. china has delta, the orange lines, or overland roads. the blue lines are maritime roots. in the last few years, china has increasingly expanded the maritime part of the network. and that strategy makes sense because remember, most traded goods across the world by sea. more than 80 percent these are the main routes they take. and these are some of the world's most vital choke points. ships with goods important to world tre,

need to pass through here to get from one region to another. now take another look at those ports. they give china pretty crucial access, which is important for the country as the world's biggest ex, border. the real question uh to my mind has to do with whether or not these infrastructure projects that leave china and as the as the lender, as the builder, as an owner, as an operator, according to mine do influence in foreign countries. this is isaac, pardon? he's a china expert at the us based carnegie think tank is research focus is on china as maritime power this use of economic coersion against trading partners that that's right. or actuality of withholding certain trade and the, the sort of control over the trading network itself helps give china

a bunch of different mechanisms by which it can accomplish that. meaning, china has gaines leverage over many countries. in 2022, china was accused of having used it in the u. n. human rights council. there was a proposal to talk just talk about chinese human rights violations against the countries weak or muslim minority internment camps. here are the 47 countries in the council at the time these countries said yes to talking these countries said no. these upstate note that a lot of the african countries in the council voted know, china has invested in infrastructure projects in some of the countries that voted yes and all of the countries that voted no. the proposal was rejected. of course, it could have been a coincidence kind of interesting increase because most of the respirator to those complex, the, even the learn from china then tiny seed with is maybe that go for more like more

time this model. and that's, that's like one thing is for sure. china is involvement in ports, is cementing a global network with political allies and trade ties. now that china has built that trade network, it's anxious to protect it. let's look at one of those key choke points. we mentioned before, this narrow straight between africa and the radian peninsula is called by the monday at the suez canal is on the other end of the red sea here, around 12 percent of world trade usually passes through here and you get it. china has a port here in the small country of to booty. china also has its only official for a naval base here, right next to the commercial port. it has stakes in china, said the reason for opening a base and you booty is to secure

a trade from piracy. and it's not the only country with the military base and you booty. take a look the by the way, the us space is around 13 kilometers from china space. but we'll get to that rival read later. so many countries have set up on the straight viability. in part because of a tax like the most recently who's the rebels from yemen, have been targeting commercial ships in the red sea. those attacks have been so intense that they changed global trade routes. many ships are now avoiding the red sea altogether and taking this much longer route to get to europe. along with russia, china reportedly even struck a deal with the who would fees to avoid their ships being hit. the u. n says, disruptions to trade in general are increasing all over the world. a worry,

especially for the chinese the country is not only a big ex border but also needs to import resources like oil and minerals to keep its economy running. there is a, there is a risk to china, off of the disruption of that network, and that, that would really cause significant problems for their economic models. and political rivalries could also lead to disruption. there is this perception in china that they're vulnerable to uh, to us sanctions, to us naval introduction, to other us efforts alongside allies, to essentially cut china out of the global trading system. so it's no surprise the giant container vessels aren't the only ships from china. is showing up at these ports now. meet the people's liberation army, navy, the p l a n th,

the navy's official mission is to safeguard china's overseas interests that include securing trade between not just be like wal bravo and are committed to use uh, most of these uh, providers published these uh, security policies in the last few years, china has been massively building up its navy. china can now rival the us in some important military capabilities and already has a larger fleet. if you only look at ship numbers and it's building even more. plus there has been rumors about potential new naval bases beyond your body for a while. the most likely spots for them are, you guessed it, some of the overseas ports china is involved in the us research lab. 8 data found weak ports that they think could become chinese, military bases within the next 5 years. remember creevy in cameroon?

well, it's on the list. china is the port operator there. the port is deep enough to harbor a big warships and china and cameroon, on good terms, politically and even without ports like creepy, officially becoming naval bases. the people's liberation army has made quite extensive use of this network of port facilities, all of the ports, and virtually any commercial for it is intrinsically a dual use. uh facility. because naval ships need some of the same things that any commercial ship does in particular fuel and water and food and the ability to, to rest their crews. and there's more the us as concern chinese involvement in ports could block or limit us commercial and military access to them. and the china is using ports to spike like here at the port of holly fund in the united arab

emirates, us intelligence set a new plan terminal. there was actually a secret military facility. just to put the us accusations in context. china has 14 and military base, and the us as well see for yourself. the bigger the bubble in each country, the more us military bases there are there, the, we don't know how the use of this port network will ultimately play out. the us as watching warily as china expands into what they perceive as their backyard in latin america. one of the new ports chung kite input route. it will supposedly slash shipping times between south america and asia. a chinese shipping company will be the sole operator of the port, which is why us officials have repeatedly boys concerned about the projects.