Lawmakers issue warning for future of Diego Garcia base if U.K. hands over ... trends now
The Chagos Islands may be little more than specks in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but they are at the center of a looming diplomatic row over a key American military base and the rise of Chinese power.
Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic have raised fears that the British government's decision to begin negotiations to hand over the islands to Mauritius could allow China the chance to build its own military facility on the archipelago — right under the nose of American forces at Diego Garcia.
The issue is one of the most important strategic locations in the Indian Ocean, from where U.S. B1 and B52 bombers can reach maritime chokepoints, vital sea lanes and even potential Chinese bases everywhere from Djibouti to Pakistan.
The British government says any deal will protect the U.S. operation at Diego Garcia.
But British MP Daniel Kawczynski is warning his American counterparts that handing sovereignty to Mauritius - with its deepening economic ties to Beijing - offers no guarantee that China won't soon have its own base on the island chain.
'If you look at the amount of investment the Chinese have in Mauritius, I would argue that for all intents and purposes they control Mauritius,' he told DailyMail.com.
'They have a policy of hoovering up all of these islands in the South China Sea... the idea the Chinese are not going to take advantage of us giving up these islands is wrong.'
He said he was writing to American colleagues to sound the alarm, and has called a debate at parliament's Westminster Hall next week.
Rep. Mike Waltz, ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, demanded an immediate review.
'Since the Biden Administration gave away Bagram - a strategic airbase only a few hundred miles from the Chinese border and our only base situated between Iran, Russia, and China - the base in Diego Garcia is absolutely critical,' he said.
'These reports are very concerning and something the readiness subcommittee should look into.'
Diego Garcia is the biggest island in the Chagos Archipelago. Its position in the center of the Indian Ocean gives it a crucial strategic location and it is the site of a U.S. naval support facility, hosting nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, and staging special operations forces
A B-2 Spirit takes off from Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia during the Iraq War. Negotiations to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius have raised fears that China could try to muscle in on such a strategic location in the middle of the Indian Ocean
Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic have issued warning. Conservative Member of Parliament Daniel Kawczynski says China is waiting in the wings to build its own base, while Republican Rep. Mike Waltz has called for an urgent review
The Chagos Islands have been uninhabited since the U.K. removed its residents in order to lease a military base to the U.S. That could be about to change
The fate of the Chagos Islands and their former inhabitants has been a source of diplomatic tension for decades.
Three years before granting independence to Mauritius the British government severed the islands from the rest of the country.
It then forcibly displaced the archipelago's 2000 residents in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for a military facility that it leases to the U.S.
The population has waged a legal battle to return ever since, while Mauritius has campaigned to be reunited with the islands.
Three years ago, the International Court of Justice, the United Nation's highest court, ruled that the British occupation of the islands was unlawful and that the archipelago was part of Mauritius.
Its ruling was advisory and initially made no change to the status quo. But since then London has come under increasing pressure to set a better example as it accused China of ignoring international law in the South China Sea and elsewhere.
Warplanes can be seen lined up at the base on Diego Garcia in this Google photo
Diego Garcia is a militarized atoll, just south of the Equator in the Indian Ocean.
As part of the British Indian Ocean Territory it is controlled by London, which has leased a military facility to the U.S. since 1966, when Washington was keen to extend its influence in the Indian Ocean at the height of the Cold War.
Its position - about 2200 miles east of the African coast of Tanzania and 1200 miles west of the southern tip of India - gives its heavy bombers access to a string of key maritime and military targets.
The base is about 2200 miles east of the African coast of Tanzania and 1200 miles west of the southern tip of India
The 'unsinkable aircraft carrier' has been a vital asset during the Iranian Revolution (when rescue missions used it as a staging post), the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Operation Desert Fox in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
It serves as a logistics and support base for naval vessels, warplanes and special forces.
Port facilities to accommodate air carriers were completed in 1985.
And an airfield was built four years later allowing the arrival of B52 Stratofortress bombers and aerial refuelling aircraft.
The atoll also hosts the United States Marine Pre-positioning Squadron Two, made up of seven vessels packed with tanks, armoured personnel carriers, munitions, fuel, spare parts and even a mobile field hospital for rapidly deployment to war zones.
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Displaced Chagos Islanders have fought for years to return home. Most now live in Mauritius or the United Kingdom but won a victory in 2019 the United Nation's highest court ruled that the British occupation of the islands was unlawful and that the archipelago was part of Mauritius
U.S. Strategic Command this week took the unusual step of revealing that the ballistic missile submarine USS West Virginia had
