For more than two centuries, the Manila Galleons carried Chinese silk, porcelain, and spices across the Pacific to Acapulco. From there, the cargo crossed Mexico before joining Spanish treasure fleets sailing to Europe, almost always stopping in the Canary Islands before catching the Atlantic trade winds. That maritime network became the world’s first truly global commercial route.

Five centuries later, Beijing is quietly rebuilding much of the same corridor — not with imperial fleets, but with ports, factories, logistics hubs, and digital infrastructure linking Morocco to the Canary Islands. Nevertheless, Washington barely seems to notice.

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American policymakers often view Chinese investments in North Africa and the eastern Atlantic as isolated commercial ventures. They are better understood as pieces of a long-term strategy to expand Beijing’s economic influence across one of history’s most valuable maritime crossroads. The objective is not simply to........

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