It's more convenient to the worm-eaten neoliberal brain to compartmentalize imperialism down into "imperialism is when foreign military bases" so that any opposition country to them can (to them) be tarred with the same brush we tar the western neoliberals with, but for the crimes (again, to the neoliberal) of either merely establishing infrastructure to defend against constant, coup-intended Amerikan belligerence, or giving the people that Amerikans are busy draining the blood from the means to force the Amerikan ghoul off their necks.