Chinese military analysts have questioned whether the United States will be able to realise its plans to build more military bases in Asia.

Beijing has already reacted angrily to plans to base intermediate-range missiles in the region, saying it “will not stand idly by” if the US does so.

Ren Guoqiang, a spokesman from the Chinese Ministry of National Defence, said on Thursday that China was paying close attention to the latest US plans.

“The US side should be careful with its words and deeds,” Ren said. “China remains resolute in protecting our legitimate rights and interests, as well as peace and security in the region.”

View photos Ren Guoqiang, a Chinese defence ministry spokesman, says the country remains “resolute” in protecting its rights and interests. Photo: Handout More

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper announced the plans to deploy the missiles at the start of August, but upped the ante on Wednesday when he said the Pentagon wanted to invest in more bases in the Asia-Pacific region.

“[Our] allies and partners want us to lead … but to do that we must also be present in the region,” he said in a speech at the US Naval War College.

“Not everywhere, but we have to be in the key locations. This means looking at how we expand our basing locations, investing more time and resources into certain regions we haven't been to in the past.”

The US operates more than 40 military bases in the region, many of them on the territory of its key allies such as Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank told the Defence News website that there were parts of Southeast Asia where the US could expand its military presence – for example, Vietnam which will next year mark the 25th anniversary of normalising relations with the US.

Eric Sayers, a former special assistant to the head of US Pacific Command, told the website that Yap, the westernmost part of the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau were also possible sites for US Air Force bases.

“This lets us diversify the locations we use, complicates [People’s Liberation Army] planning, avoids dependency on large bases that can become single points of failure, and buys down the diplomatic-political risk of relying too heavily on a place like the Philippines, where we may only have access during a dispute that they are involved in,” Sayers said.

View photos US Defence Secretary Mark Esper says the country’s allies “want us to lead”. Photo: Getty Images/ AFP More

But PLA analysts cast doubt on the prospects of the US setting up new bases on China’s doorstep, especially in Vietnam.

Zhao Xiaozhuo, a senior colonel who is also a senior fellow at the PLA Academy of Military Science, said accepting a US base would trigger a backlash among local communities and damage the country’s diplomatic relations.

“The US has all kinds of thoughts and disclosed them at the very early stage, [but it has] a very long way to go to be finally implemented,” Zhao said.

View photos Protests against plans to relocate a US air base in Okinawa. Photo: Kyodo More

Another senior colonel from PLA’s Academy of Military Science, who declined to be named, also cast doubt on what extent the US would expand its military presence in the region, saying the plan would “inevitably put China’s neighbours in a security dilemma”.

“Some countries will not sacrifice their friendly ties with China to be close to the US militarily,” he said.

“And if the US really builds military bases in Pacific nations, can they play a big role in countering China’s influence when considering their distance from China’s coast?”