Deploying to the Med. without the ability to control or influence either Gibraltar or the Suez seems like a good way to lose part of your fleet instantly at the beginning of hostilities - much like the fate of German naval squadrons at sea when WWI broke out?
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For the PRC operating in the Med., their lines run through a strait they may not control, past the coast of a regional geostrategic rival, through a sea they may not control, through a canal they don't control. It's not impossible, but it's trickier.
They have a lot more diplomacy to do before that's workable. And obviously part of the Belt-and-Road is designed to lay the groundwork for that, with mixed success.