The importance of the Strait of Malacca for Chinese Trade

This strait has a strategic importance for several powers among the globe, especially the US, India, China and Japan. The interest of the US in this region is to ensure the viability of international shipping lanes [5]. To do so, they rely on the US Indo-Pacific Command (US INDOPACOM), one of the oldest and largest unified combatant commands of the US Armed Forces. Approximately 375 000 US military and civilian personnel are assigned to the US INDOPACOM [11]. Regarding India, the country has a territory in the Strait of Malacca, the Nicobar Islands. In 2023, the Indian government decided to build a naval base on the biggest of those islands, the Great Nicobar [3] to face China in the Strait. Another way for the Indian navy to face China in the Strait is cooperation with the US navy. Concerning Japan, the Strait is vital for its economy as 41% of the Japanese imports and 80% of its petrol importation goes through Malacca [4]. Thus, Japan is actively struggling against piracy in the Strait through strategic cooperation with other stakeholders of the region, such as the ASEAN+3 (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, China, South Korea, Japan) [10]. Finally, the Strait is even more important for China as most of its importation and exportations are shipping through the Strait. Also, as for Japan, 80% of the petrol imported by China goes through the Strait of Malacca [1]. Should the strait become too dangerous due to piracy or other states, it is estimated that the yearly loss in shipping costs could range from $84 billion to $250 billion for Chinese ships [9].

Moreover, China fears that the strait might be blockaded by the US and its allies (India, Philippines, Indonesia, etc.), a concern known as the Malacca Dilemma. Thus, China launched in 2013 its new Belt and Road initiative and is considering several projects to reduce its dependence on Malacca.