WASHINGTON: The United Arab Emirates have recently been ordered to stop working on Chinese facilities in the country after American officials stated that Beijing was intended to use the site for military purposes, according to high UAE officials.
Last month, the report had emerged that the Biden government had succeeded in stopping the development of secret development within the port of China’s shipping in the UAE, one of the closest US Middle Eastern allies, after intense pressure from the US.
Emirates ordered the work to stop on the site of Washington’s order, said Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic advisor for the UAE leadership.
UAE, he said, did not believe this facility was intended for military or security, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
This project, near Abu Dhabi, was stopped after several rounds of meetings and visits by US officials, WSJ reported quoting people who were familiar with this problem.
After intelligence agents in Washington learned that Beijing secretly built what they suspected was military facilities in a port, the Biden government warned the Emirati government that the presence of the Chinese military in his country could threaten the relationship between the two countries.
Although this project is described as purely commercial, US intelligence has been observed that the vessels are disguised as commercial vessels recognized officials as types that are usually used by the Chinese military to indicate a collection of intelligence that enters the port, the report said.
In a statement, a spokesman for the UAE Embassy in Washington said that the UAE “had never had an agreement, plan, talk or intention to host a Chinese military base or any post.” This development came when Beijing tried to develop a commercial port in posts throughout the world in what experts believed was a clear effort to increase its military footing.
China has developed a commercial port in Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the first foreign military base in Djibouti.
Previously, the former Trump government had tried to pressure the UAE to stop the project in the port, which was run by Chinese delivery conglomerates.