Chinese private security companies operate in at least 14 countries in Africa, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya and Somalia, and Beijing’s activities in East Africa’s coastal waters are under increased scrutiny.
Critics have for years denounced China’s aggressive gray zone strategy, accusing the government of using private security companies, also known as PSCs, to carry out opaque state operations, including coercive actions that fall short of field combat. Such gray zone tactics are currently being used in the African waters of the Indian Ocean, which China is trying to control.
Aritullah Banerjee, a defense and strategic affairs journalist and co-author of a book on the Indian Navy, says these private maritime security companies are not just commercial entities, but an extension of China’s national strategy.
“Private security companies can operate in legal gray areas, especially in waters where jurisdictions are divided,” he said in a Nov. 18 article in the Indian newspaper The Sunday Guardian. “Their presence complicates maritime governance, blurs the line between commercial and military activities, and introduces new actors not bound by the same expectations of transparency as navies.
“This arrangement fits well with China’s ‘military-civil fusion’ principle, in which the state and commercial entities work together to support national security objectives.”
Most PSCs in China were founded by former military and police personnel and are controlled by government agencies, researchers said. Their main customers are large state-owned enterprises.
In contrast to private military companies (PMCs), which conduct offensive operations and combat support, they provide defense services such as field security, personnel protection, and risk assessment. This distinction allows the Chinese government to circumvent the principle of non-interference, as it explicitly prohibits PMCs while allowing PSCs.
“The term ‘private security company’ is misleading and imprecise in the Chinese context,” researcher Paul Nanturia wrote in a 2021 article in the African Center for Strategic Studies.
China owns at least 51% of PSC. Hua Xin Zhong An (HXZA) is one of the few companies authorized by the government to provide armed maritime escort, resulting in a near monopoly on security for the country’s largest international shipping and container companies. HXZA has another unusual government approval. Its coast guard officers can use deadly force in self-defense.
HXZA mentions “party building” and has a “political activities” section on its website, stating, “The company has established positions for general political committee members and political and ideological activity instructors in each division of the security management department, and has placed the foundation of ideological activities in grassroots units (teams).”
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Support Base, established in Djibouti in July 2017, houses 1,000 to 2,000 personnel and provides logistics, intelligence gathering platform, and coordination for PSC maritime operations in East African waters and with the PLA Navy’s counter-piracy mission.
Given continuing concerns about who these Chinese PSCs serve, Banerjee urged African governments to consider the long-term implications of employing or collaborating with them.
“Private maritime security is helpful, but useless when it becomes a backdoor for foreign influence,” he wrote. “Transparency, licensing and oversight frameworks must evolve to prevent abuse.
“China’s new privateers are not pirates, but they are sailing the same waters with far more strategic objectives. Their rise signals a new phase in the Indian Ocean security environment, one where influence hides in commerce and sails powerfully under a different flag.”
