Cracking the "Malacca Dilemma," China should fully support the Southern Land Bridge project in Thailand.
Never put all your eggs in one basket.
Under Trump's administration, Washington, the global hegemon, began to strategically withdraw from two fronts in Europe and the Middle East. The détente with Moscow and maximum pressure on Tehran are attempts at this strategy. The United States hopes that post-Soviet space will be controlled by Russians and views the transatlantic alliance as a strategic burden.
Washington hopes to project its strategic resources to new power centers - the Indo-Pacific region, and fully address its greatest security challenge of the century.
US scholar Parag Khanna pointed out that the essence of the twenty-first century is essentially a struggle for supply chains. Compared with territorial disputes, competing for oil pipelines, railways, highways, tunnels, ocean routes, network cables, and power grids connecting this region with other regions is more in line with the interests of various countries.
The Strait of Malacca is located between the northern Indian Ocean, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra Island of Indonesia. It is a narrow waterway connecting the South China Sea and the Andaman Sea. Therefore, together with the southern Sunda Strait and the Makassar Strait, it has become an important passage connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and also a maritime hub for exchanges among Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. Its geographical position is very important, and it has always been called the "Eastern Gibraltar."
Whoever controls the Strait of Malacca can strangle China's energy channels. Over-reliance on this waterway poses a significant potential threat to China's energy security.
The "Malacca Dilemma" has sparked the political foresight of geopoliticians, giving rise to the emergence of the new Southern Land Bridge of Thailand that bypasses the Strait of Malacca. This route will bypass one of the busiest sea routes in the world - the Strait of Malacca, thereby shortening shipping time between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
The Southern Land Bridge of Thailand connects shipping between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Ships traveling between the Middle East and East Asia can choose to bypass the busy Strait of Malacca, saving travel time. The Thai Ministry of Transport estimates that the land bridge can help reduce average voyage time by four days and cut transportation costs by 15%.
The Southern Land Bridge project of Thailand, expected to cost 1 trillion Thai baht (approximately 40 billion Singapore dollars), will proceed in three phases: Phase One will start construction in 2026 and be put into operation in 2030; Phase Two will begin construction in 2031 and be completed by the end of 2034; Phase Three will commence construction in 2035 and be completed by the end of 2036.
Despite having numerous military assets in the Indo-Pacific, Washington must not forget that Thailand, an ASEAN country, is not the backyard of the United States like Panama.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1829463083076620/
Disclaimer: This article represents the author's personal views.