China: Building a strategic naval base in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego

The Chinese regime of Xi Jinping continues to push for the construction and control of a naval base in Ushuaia in the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego.

In the past, the local government had clarified the sovereignty of a possible port in the area.

However, Beijing’s constant diplomatic demarches have succeeded, with southern Argentina becoming China’s “gateway” to Antarctica, one of the autochthonous nation’s priorities.

At the end of September, Economy Minister Sergio Massa had ruled out that the project would involve regime control, stressing that the investment would take into account Argentine sovereignty.

However, the French intelligence service Intelligence Online, which specializes in strategic affairs and confidential information, reported Thursday (November 3) that Beijing has managed to accelerate plans to build a naval base in the city.

This enclave, to which only Chinese military personnel would have access, would provide easy access to Antarctica and control the passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and monitor communications throughout the hemisphere.

According to the magazine’s sources, the breakthrough was achieved through the mediation of Shuiping Tu, an Argentina-based Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official and representative of state-owned “HydroChina Corp” throughout South America.

Without elaborating, “Intelligence Online” adds that Shuiping succeeded in convincing the governor of Tierra del Fuego, Gustavo Melella, and his entourage to change their stance on Chinese investment in the region, to open up to the CCP and to escape pressure from Washington to stop the Asian giant’s advance in the region.

China has shown a particular interest in the area for years, as it is of strategic importance and could become China’s gateway to Antarctica and the South Atlantic.

The landing is facilitated by the need for regional investment, which opens the door for foreign capital.

“Intelligence Online” reported that Governor Melella and “HydroChina” entered into a partnership in early October, claiming that these ties make the PCC the partner of choice for an infrastructure project, including ports.

In this context, a recent investigation has shown how China has gained a foothold in Tierra del Fuego and how Governor Melella has opened the doors for the Chinese regime to build a port in Río Grande that could be converted into a military naval base with an outreach to Antarctica, which would constitute an intervention in Argentina’s sovereign and strategic interests.

Melella’s ties to banks and Asian corporations are well known: He ordered the prosecutor’s office to “suspend the procedural deadlines” of a court case involving non-compliance by a company with ties to Beijing in the construction of a petrochemical pole and port that ended in scandal.

The interference of political power in this legal case, involving more than three hundred million U.S. dollars, came at the request of Ambassador Zou.

Behind the demand was the promise of millions of dollars in investments by this country in Tierra del Fuego.

The Fuegian administration conscientiously complied with the diplomatic request.

With information from Latina Press