Ex-Pentagon Official Warns China Monitored Red Sea Near US Base

China has turned the Red Sea into a potentially dangerous surveillance zone, a former Pentagon official said Sunday, after a new report detailed upgrades to Beijing’s military presence in Djibouti. The expanded facilities are located just six miles from Camp Lemonnier, a key U.S. military base that costs about $66 million a year to operate.

The report from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) identified new infrastructure that could allow China’s military to monitor the activities of other forces operating in the area. However, the think tank said there was not enough evidence to establish whether Chinese personnel were actively intercepting communications.

One defense expert told News Outlet that the developments could add another source of friction to U.S.-China relations ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the White House on Sept. 24. Beijing’s intelligence-gathering operations are already facing renewed scrutiny.

“What China is clearly doing is building eavesdropping capabilities. That seems to be their aim,” said Morgan Murphy, a former Trump White House official who served as press secretary to Mark Esper when Esper was defense secretary during the first Trump administration.

“Beijing has clearly wiretapped the Red Sea. When you build a 30-meter (100-foot-wide) satellite dish and cover it with a dome, so nobody can see where it’s pointing, it’s pretty clear you’re up to no good,” Murphy said. He added that “the specificity here reflects the thorough research we expect out of CSIS.”

The CSIS report describes a large facility in the southeastern part of the base that includes a control building, three 30-meter dipole antennas for high-frequency communications, two smaller antennas designed for very and “ultra-high frequencies,” three mobile satellite dishes, four probable 5G towers and a “radome” covering an unidentified asset.

CSIS also identified two communications facilities that have appeared since 2024. The think tank said they are likely components of a C4ISR command architecture, which could strengthen China’s ability to collect signals, track naval movements, communicate with Beijing and observe foreign militaries operating in the region.

The new infrastructure would give China “a much more robust picture of the operating environment in the region,” according to the report.

“This isn’t a supply depot — it’s a 50-yard line seat over America’s power projection and the U.S. Navy,” Murphy said. He noted that the United States has “128 bases in more than 51 countries — China has just one.”

“But look at the location — a few miles from Camp Lemonnier, overlooking the choke point that moves roughly a sixth of global sea trade. Great powers don’t plant listening posts next to rival fleets for ‘logistics,’” he warned.

“Britain held Gibraltar to see who entered the Med while Japan’s island radios came before the runways. The Soviets’ overseas sites were never just about fuel, and Beijing is running that playbook on the Red Sea,” Murphy said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jian said China was “unaware of the specific situation” and described the country as a “builder of international peace.” Even so, the new facilities give Beijing a clearer view of military activity across the region, Reuters reported.

“The new report is helpful in framing the conversation, and it comes at an awkward time for China because Xi Jinping is visiting the White House on the 24th of this month,” Murphy said.

“I’d bet a box of donuts this issue comes up. There is going to be public exposure of this, which Chinese leadership isn’t used to. They aren’t used to being asked tough questions by the press,” he said.

President Donald Trump recently discussed Chinese intelligence operations aboard Air Force One, acknowledging that China “spies on us” just as “we spy on them.”

Trump’s remarks came after The Wall Street Journal reported that a Chinese entity had supported the provision of high-resolution satellite imagery to Iran before a deadly missile strike on U.S. troops in Jordan.

“They basically do what we do,” Trump said, adding that “Xi has behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well. … You know what they say? That China spies on us. I say you’re right, and we spy on them, too,” according to Reuters.

Murphy noted, “Nations spy on each other — allies and adversaries alike.”

“It is a very old playbook, and listening posts all over the world are typical of great powers, but where the metal hits the floorboard is when you try to use that information,” he said before adding that China may “keep tabs on us, but they cannot project power like the United States can.”

The proximity of China’s facility to U.S. operations is a core concern. Located less than six miles from Camp Lemonnier — the primary U.S. counterterrorism hub in Africa — and near French, Italian and Japanese installations, the site has a history of friction with U.S. forces.

“We are just right around the corner from China, and yet it’s not a cooperative relationship,” Murphy explained.

“Back in 2018, they lasered two of our C-130 pilots’ eyes who suffered lasting damage from that incident. Beijing denied it, of course, but we know the truth.”

During the 2018 incident, the Pentagon had formally complained to China after military-grade lasers were pointed at American pilots attempting to land at Camp Lemonnier, causing minor injuries.

While Beijing dismissed the allegations as “groundless accusations,” the confrontation underscored the potential for friction between military forces operating from nearby bases.

“China has one overseas base. The United States has more than 128 — by some counts, over 700 installations around the world,” Murphy said.

“So it’s significant that China has chosen to place its only overseas base six miles from ours in Djibouti. It is hugely strategically important, which is why, of course, we’re there.”

“It’s our only base on the continent of Africa,” he said, noting that it shares a “parking lot” with Japanese and Italian bases.

“At $66 million a year, it’s the best money Americans spend on our defense budget, full stop.”

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a choke point for nearly 16% of global maritime trade and, with significant crude shipments, Houthi attacks and pipeline disruptions have fueled a regional military buildup.

“Interference by China is in their strategic interest. They don’t want to see the United States able to control their oil supply,” Murphy said.

“China is far more reliant on Middle Eastern oil than the United States. China imports a huge portion — around 33% or more — of their daily oil needs and is highly reliant on long sea lines. You are seeing this muscle-flexing because they are far more reliant on Middle Eastern oil than we are.”

“Having intelligence is one thing, but you must have the ability to act on it. You need assets in the region,” Murphy said.

“China doesn’t have major combat assets outside their region because they lack a blue-water navy to project power outside the first island chain yet.

“That is coming, and they are working towards it quickly. Americans can take comfort in the fact that they don’t have that capacity today, but we must stay alert because the only thing that subdues a threat is a ready posture,” he concluded.

News Outlet has reached out to the Chinese Embassy for comment.