Potential PEEKing New Chinese spy base on Burmese isle in the Andaman Sea
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/01/military-construction-on-myanmars-great-coco-island-prompts-fears-of-chinese-involvement
Military construction on Myanmar’s Great Coco island prompts fears of Chinese involvement
Great Coco lies 55km from India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Beijing has denied it is involved in building a surveillance post there
Mon 1 May 2023 04.32 BSTSince the early 1990s, Myanmar’s Great Coco – a small, remote island in the Bay of Bengal – has been at the centre of intrigue. Rumour had it that the island was home to a Chinese intelligence facility, a claim lacking hard evidence. Now concerns over the island, and its uses, have re-emerged.
Satellite images taken in January 2023 show telltale signs of military modernisation, according to a report by the thinktank Chatham House. There’s a newly lengthened 2,300-metre runway and radar station, two new hangars, what appears to be an accommodation block, and a new causeway linking to a smaller island. At the tip of the island is evidence of land clearing efforts, suggesting further construction work is to come.
Great Coco is small at 11km in length, but its location is strategically important. It is not only close to the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, it also lies 55km from India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which host Indian navy and air force bases.
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The newly lengthened airstrip and its expanded facilities on Great Coco Island. Photograph: Maxar TechnologiesSigns of construction have provoked concern that China – which Myanmar has grown increasingly dependent on after the February 2021 coup – could stand to gain from intelligence gathered there, either through espionage or intelligence sharing.
“With the Coco Island developments, India may soon face a new airbase close by in a country increasingly tied to Beijing,” said the report by Chatham House, which analysed satellite images released by Maxar Technologies.
Delhi has reportedly been monitoring developments closely. It recently confronted Myanmar with intelligence showing that Beijing was providing assistance in building a surveillance post on the island, according to Bloomberg. China dismissed the claims.
Authors of the Chatham House report said the Maxar images did not show any specific evidence of Chinese activity on Great Coco. However, since the coup, Myanmar’s military has sought closer ties with Beijing, backing its claim to Taiwan and announcing its support for China’s “global security initiative”.
