China has long regarded its dependence on transiting goods through the narrow Malacca Straits on the Malay peninsula as among its most serious national security vulnerabilities. In the event of a conflict with the United States, the U.S. Navy could easily block the strait and effectively cut China off from its energy suppliers in the Persian Gulf.
Years ago, Chinese strategic planners went to work to build new overland trade routes with direct access to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean via South and Southeast Asia with the aim of eliminating its so-called “Malacca Dilemma.”
Those two initiatives, one in Pakistan and the other in Myanmar, are slowly becoming a reality.
In Myanmar, the state-owned China Railway Group is building a 330-kilometer rail line from China’s southern Yunnan province to the Myanmar border. Since last year, CRG has been working on a feasibility study to extend that railway all the way to the Indian Ocean port city of Kyaukphyu.
Already, cargo is slowly making its way from the Port of Yangon to China by first going overland to Myanmar’s second city in Mandalay, where it can then be loaded onto a new 2,000 km freight rail line to the industrial mega-city of Chongqing, inaugurated in May.
SUGGESTED READING:
- Nikkei Asia: China carves path to Indian Ocean with Myanmar rail network
- The Maritime Executive: China’s Access to the Indian Ocean Via Myanmar is Almost Complete by Brian Gicheru Kinyua
