China is reportedly seeking to establish a permanent military base in the Middle East for the first time, which Washington will certainly see as a significant 'challenge' - also given the planned base would be in the Arab Gulf region, where the US also has major bases, as in the case of the Navy Central Command installations in Qatar and Bahrain. 

"President Joe Biden has been briefed on what his advisers see as a Chinese plan to build a military facility in Oman, people familiar with the matter said, amid a broader effort by Beijing to deepen defense and diplomatic ties with the Middle East," Bloomberg writes in its major Tuesday story.