Secret Chinese Base in the Mountains of Tjakistan

On October 21st 2021, Radio Free Europe released an article where they detailed a plan to begin the construction of a new military base in Tajikistan. In itself, a new military base is not uncommon and would only serve to show Beijing's ambition, but what was interesting was learning that Chinese military personnel have already been present in country, operating and that they would receive full control of the preexisting base.

The author continues to detail its position as being in "in the Murghab region near the Afghan border in a remote stretch close to the Wakhan Corridor, located by an abandoned soviet outpost".

This alleged Chinese military base was said to be hidden deep within the mountains of the country, bordering Afghanistan. What has been interesting is learning that both the Chinese and Tajik governments have officially denied the base’s existence and few details about its ownership and operation are known.

The base is relatively new, as it does not show up on imaging from 2019 and later.

By looking at the PLA and their movements we can begin to see a shift in the use of both overt hard power, in the creation of bases, but also in the reshaping of global trade around them.