The Trump administration is reportedly weighing plans to stop Britain from transferring a strategic military outpost to Mauritius, an island nation with deep ties to Beijing.
Downing Street is contemplating giving the Chagos Islands to Mauritius despite the territory containing Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, a joint U.K.-U.S. military base. China maintains close economic ties with Mauritius through the Mauritius-China Free Trade Agreement, according to the Mauritius Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The South China Morning Post claimed the Trump administration was attempting to purchase the islands outright, though Reuters reported Mauritius hasn’t received any formal proposal from Washington. The British government paused the transfer deal in response to opposition from President Donald Trump.
“China has long invested in its relationships and presence (economic, people) in Mauritius, an island nation to which the current UK government would like to cede the Chagos Islands. There is ample evidence to indicate that Mauritius would not act to protect the operational viability of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands against Chinese interference.”
Brent Sadler, naval warfare expert at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Mauritius wouldn’t protect Diego Garcia from Chinese interference.
Mauritius was the first African nation to sign a bilateral free-trade agreement with China in 2019. The country recently denied Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s aircraft permission to transit through its airspace.
“If Mauritius gets the archipelago, it is also likely to grant access to the Chinese ‘fishing fleet’ and ‘research vessel’ fleet — very possibly followed by Chinese ‘tourism development’,” Cleo Paskal, Indo-Pacific expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the DCNF.
The Trump administration remains firm on the islands’ strategic importance.
“President Trump has been consistent in his position that the United Kingdom should not give away the British Indian Ocean Territory, which includes our joint U.S.-UK military facility on the Diego Garcia atoll,” a U.S. official told the DCNF. “Diego Garcia’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean makes it a vital and indispensable military installation of significant importance to the national security of the United States.”
Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia contains a vital airstrip over 12,000 feet long, big enough to accommodate U.S. tankers, cargo aircraft and B-52 bombers. The base launched strikes during the Persian Gulf War, the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War.
During the recent Iran conflict, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted the island with two ballistic missiles, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity on March 31. Neither missile reached the target.
“It is questionable if, once Starmer goes, there will be a similar high-level UK push to pay Mauritius to take control over such an important and sensitive area – a concept that is strategic nincompoopery, at best.”
The issue has caused turmoil within Britain. Prime Minister Keir Starmer currently faces severe criticism at home, with roughly 69% of adult Britons viewing him unfavorably, according to a May 13 YouGov poll.
Legislation pertaining to the deal in the U.K. government is currently frozen. The “bill will make no further progress,” according to the U.K. Parliament.
“We remain in regular discussions with our British allies as we work together to preserve the viability of Diego Garcia as a regional security platform,” a U.S. official told the DCNF.
Paskal told the DCNF the Chagossians should be granted the right to self-determination through a referendum offering options that include staying part of the U.K. or becoming a U.S. territory.
