China's Port Network Clusters Near Chokepoints

 The Conversation published on 4 March 2026 an analysis titled "Far from Random, China's Global Port Network Is Clustering Near the World's Riskiest Trade Routes" by Dylan Spencer, Georgia Southern University, Gohar Petrossian, John Jay School of Criminal Justice, and Stephen Pires, Florida International University.

Chinese companies now own or operate terminals at more than 90 ports worldwide.  This program is not random; the investments cluster near maritime chokepoints and piracy-prone shipping corridors such as the Suez Canal/Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz, and Strait of Malacca.  Proximity to critical trade bottlenecks strongly predicts Chinese port investment.  

Extending China's Military Power into Indian Ocean

 The New York Times published on 7 September 2023 a commentary titled "China's Military Is Going Global" by Craig Singleton, China analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.

China is establishing "strategic strong points" along its major trade, energy, and resource routes, especially those that run from China through the Malacca Strait and into the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.  

China's Concerns Over Indian Ocean Choke Points

 The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs published on 22 March 2023 an analysis titled "China's Economic Security Challenge: Difficulties Overcoming the Malacca Dilemma" by Lucas Myers, Wilson Center's Asia Program.

Ninety percent of China's trade and 80 percent of its oil travels by sea.  During time of war, China fears a possible blockade of the sea lines of communication (SLOCs) through the Indian Ocean choke points of the Suez Canal/Red Sea and Strait of Malacca.  Mitigating this dilemma is an increasingly important element of China's naval strategy.  

Challenges for People's Liberation Army to Obtain Access to the Indian Ocean Region

 The Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College Press published in July 2022 an edited volume titled Enabling a More Externally Focused and Operational PLA  that contains a chapter (#4, pp. 67-87) titled "The People's Liberation Army and Operational Access in the Indian Ocean Region: Geographic Constraints and Lessons from the Cold War" by David Brewster.  

The chapter examines challenges faced by the People's Liberation Army in obtaining operational access to the Indian Ocean region.  It focuses on how China's strategic imperatives may drive the army's future presence, bearing in mind the geographic constraints particular to the region and the Soviet experience during the Cold War.