Is China Secretly Constructing A Naval Base In Maldives? Here's What We Know

China may have been eyeing an opportunity to secretly construct a naval base in Maldives under the guise of an agricultural project.

According to claims made by Fayyaz Ismail, chairperson of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the principal opposition party, Chinese may be working on a military project on Uthuru-Thila-Falhu (UTF) atoll.

Last month, on 28 March, China Harbor Engineering Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Maldives Industrial Development Free Zone (MIDF) to construct an Agricultural Economic Zone (AEZ) project at the northernmost island of UTF.

China Harbor Engineering Company is suspected to have close ties to the Chinese People Liberation Army (PLA) and is the same company that oversaw the construction of the loss-making Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka that has now been given to China for a 99-year lease.

Fayyaz Ismail claims that the Chinese company, China Harbor Engineering Company, “will not plant trees, but will do military work." He was further quoted as saying "they're coming in front to do military work of a big country far from here," pointing towards China.

Military projects at the Uthuru-Thila-Falhu atoll raises concerns since any shipping coming operating in Male can be monitored easily from the atoll.

The claims of China making a military project (likely a naval base) at Uthuru-Thila-Falhu comes at a time when Islamist and pro-China Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu has taken a turn towards China and is increasingly becoming hostile to India.

Muizzu, who came to power riding on the “India Out” campaign, has already shown his willingness to distance from India.

India is helping Maldives to construct a dockyard — Ekatha Harbour — for the Maldivian Coast Guard at Sifavaru on Uthuru-Thila-Falhu atoll.

This is one of the largest projects being made in Maldives using grant-in-aid by India.

The project was announced in 2021 when Foreign Minister S Jaishankar visited Maldives and will allow the Maldivian Coast Guard to service vessels locally instead of their country of origin.

Historically, ships and vessels gifted by India have been sent to India periodically for maintenance and overhaul. After the completion of this dockyard, Maldives will be able to service, maintain, and overhaul these vessels locally.

The UTF project was used as a punching bag by the Muizzu-led opposition in 2021. A fake bogey of the Ekatha Harbor being an Indian naval base was created and propagated to the masses to give credence to the 'India Out' campaign, which worked wonders as seen with the Muizzu-led government coming to power in late 2023.

If the claims by Fayyaz Ismail are true and the construction of the agricultural project is being used as a cover for a naval base, then it will be another win for the Chinese in their pursuit of increasing their influence and challenging the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean.

How long Muizzu will stay true to his promise of freeing Maldives from the influence of any foreign power — both India and China — despite his visible shift towards China, remains to be seen.