China pledges to build a joint ocean observation station

Project narrative

On December 8, 2017, the Protocol on Establishment of Joint Ocean Observation Station between the State Oceanic Administration of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Environment and Energy of the Republic of Maldives was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Dr Mohamed Asim and Administrator of State Oceanic Administration, Wang Hong. This agreement pledged to establish a Joint Ocean Observation Station between the State Oceanic Administration of China and the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Maldives. The observatory location in Makunudhoo, the westernmost atoll in the north (not far from India), will allow the Chinese a vantage point of an important Indian Ocean shipping route through which many merchant and other ships pass, said political sources in Male. It will be uncomfortably close to Indian waters and test red lines with regard to ties with Maldives. However, it was reported that the station is purely for meteorological ocean observation and not a military application or submarine base as previously believed. In June 2019, a top-ranking Maldives government official told the Times of India that the agreement signed with China in 2017 was “not on the table” anymore.