China is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Georgia’s infrastructure, promoting projects in Armenia and controlling the logistics of Abkhazia. The main goal of the PRC is to oust NATO from the eastern part of the Black Sea, to create an alternative route to Europe without the participation of Russia and Türkiye, according to Andriy Kovalenko, Head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
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“Georgia has transferred the construction of the strategic port of Ankalia to Chinese companies, expelling the United States from the project. Beijing is investing hundreds of millions of dollars and receiving almost half of the shares. This is not just infrastructure – it is a geopolitical lever. Just 30 km away is the Russian military base in Ochamchir,” Kovalenko noted.
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According to him, Ankalia is not an isolated case, China is already present in Poti, visiting Batumi, promoting projects in Armenia and controlling the logistics of Abkhazia. The Georgian government is increasingly integrating into the Chinese model of governance, with Huawei in infrastructure, with “anti-foreign” laws and more.
"Xi Jinping’s strategy is now simple: to push NATO out of the eastern Black Sea, build an alternative route to Europe without the participation of Russia and Türkiyeiye, and expand China’s military-logistical network under the guise of civilian facilities. China’s expansion in the Black Sea direction is a signal to the Alliance: Beijing is no longer only in the Pacific Ocean. “When the Ankalia port is fully operational, China will have greater access to Europe directly, bypassing the Arctic and Ukraine,” Kovalenko emphasized.
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Tired: the Georgian Dream Party as a subsidiary of United Russia
Wired: the Georgian Dream Party as a subsidiary of the CCP
Which presence does NATO have in the eastern Black Sea? The only NATO country with a coast in the eastern Black Sea is Turkiye. And if it is about shipping to the EU without going through Russia or Turkiye, the only other countries are Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria. And Romania and Bulgaria are NATO members.
I understand that China is seeking to gain influence in the Black Sea, but by buying into Georgia this seems to mostly oppose Russia, rather than the NATO, or am i missing something?
Russia and China’s common interest in Georgia is the country’s shift toward authoritarianism, and away from the EU and democratization imo. Moscow and Beijing may have a lot of differences in the region (including China’s territorial claims for a chunk of Siberia), but their common and real enemy is democracy.
But NATO membership and democracy are two different things. Turkiye being a particular example from the region that the one does not constitute the other.
