Every moment, a large number of merchant ships travel around the world. Almost 80% of these merchant ships pass through the Strait of Malacca, and this water area can almost be said to be the lifeline of our country's maritime life.

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In today's 21st century, my country has become the world's largest foreign trade processing base.

Every moment, a large number of merchant ships in our country go to all over the world. Almost 80% of these merchant ships pass through , the Malacca Strait , and this water area can almost be said to be the lifeline of our country's maritime lifeline.

The importance of the Strait of Malacca to our country is self-evident, but at the same time, as an important maritime trade route, the Strait of Malacca, as a major maritime trade route, Western countries led by the United States also want to obtain actual control of this throat waterway. To this end, the US military has set up an military base in countries along the strait, which poses a great threat to my country's merchant ships passing through Malacca.

In order to get rid of this passive situation, China is also constantly seeking solutions, but it is always out of reach. Just when China is at a loss, Myanmar lends a helping hand.

In 2003, Myanmar rented Ko Islands to China so that China can travel smoothly in the Strait of Malacca, which not only makes trade routes safer, but most importantly, the Koko Islands have a superior geographical location and can almost be said to be the center of the Strait of Malacca, with extremely high strategic advantages.

However, the incident of China's lease of the Koko Islands made India uneasy, and even Western countries used this matter to spread public opinion internationally.

What is the significance of renting the Koko Islands to our country? What is special about the Koko Islands?

. Malacca dilemma

Before talking about the Koko Islands, we must first tell the story of the Strait of Malacca.

The Strait of Malacca is located between Malay Peninsula and Sumatra . It is an important waterway connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is jointly managed by Singapore , Malaysia and Indonesia . This is an extremely important international trade transportation port.

The strait is not large, with a total length of only 1,080 kilometers, but it plays a crucial role for our country.

The southeast end of the Strait of Malacca is directly connected to my country's South China Sea , which is the most important energy transportation and maritime trade channel in my country. Once blocked, it will directly lead to a crisis in my country's energy supply.

More than half of my country's imported crude oil is transported through the Strait of Malacca, from Middle East , Africa and other places, and a large number of commercial ships are also used to travel around the world through the Strait of Malacca.

It can be said that the Strait of Malacca is the lifeline of our country.

But such an important level is beyond the reach of our country because it does not fall within the scope of our country's control.

At the same time, the Strait of Malacca has been continuously blocked by Western countries due to its unique geographical location and importance to our country.

Strait of Malacca

In the United States' global strategic deployment, the Strait of Malacca is one of the throat waterways that must be controlled. In order to strengthen control of the Strait of Malacca, the United States even directly established a military base in Singapore, and also deployed heavily in India, in order to put the Strait of Malacca under its nose.

Although the United States has no right to directly interfere in other countries' affairs in accordance with the International Convention, its ambitions have been revealed in such blatant military deployment around the Strait of Malacca.

The US move is tantamount to extending its hands to China's trade and energy security, posing a great threat to China.

Once there is friction between China and the United States, the United States is likely to use its military power in India to block the Strait of Malacca at any time, which will put our country in an extremely passive position.

Therefore, the most urgent task is that our country must establish its own strength in the Malacca Strait.

But this is not an easy task. Previously, three countries along the Strait of Malacca have always been opposed to the intervention of external forces, believing that this is a sovereignty violation.

Just when China was at a loss, neighboring Myanmar extended a helping hand to our country. They rented the Koko Islands to China, alleviating China's urgent needs.

2. Koko Islands

If my country wants to ensure the safety and smoothness of Malacca routes, it can only rely on the support of its neighbors. Indonesia and Malaysia are the management countries of the Strait of Malacca and will inevitably not directly establish cooperation with them.

Singapore has long been tilting its position towards the United States and has also welcomed the United States' troops into the port, which has also been blocked.

Other small countries in Asia are weak and have no sphere of influence near the Strait of Malacca. Just when China is at a loss, a small island located in the Indian Ocean came into view.

This small island is called the Koko Islands. In the vast Indian Ocean, the Koko Islands are not conspicuous. It can even be said that it is just a palm-sized place. The Koko Islands contain 17 islands with an area of ​​only 21.56 square kilometers.

You should know that even Hainan Province, the smallest area in my country, has 35,400 square kilometers. In this way, the Koko Islands are indeed not big, but it is not as simple as it seems on the surface.

Koko Islands Location

Koko Islands is located in the southwest of Yangon , Myanmar, about 300 kilometers away from Myanmar, adjacent to the Andaman Sea to the east, and across the sea from India's Andaman-Nicoba Islands to the south, Bay of Bengal to the west, and Bay of Bengal to the southeast, and the famous Strait of Malacca.

Its geographical location is quite unique and is located in the center of the region composed of Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka and the Strait of Malacca.

Here, you can not only observe India's dynamics in the Indian Ocean at any time, but also control the major transportation routes in the Strait of Malacca. This is beneficial to our country and does not harm. It not only protects the security of our country's energy transportation and trade exchanges, but also curbs the United States' ambition to try to control our country's energy route.

This discovery can be described as "a village with dark willows and flowers", and lit up a bright light for our country's solution to " Malacca dilemma ".

Subsequently, the Chinese military and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began to contact the Myanmar official. After a series of negotiations, in 2003, the Myanmar official signed an agreement with China to lease the Koko Islands to our country for use. We don’t know the specific rental fee of

. This must not be a small amount, but when it comes to important issues related to national energy security, money is no longer the primary issue. It can even be called "spend small money and do big things." The news of

leased the Koko Islands did not spread in our country at that time, so most Chinese people did not know about it, but this incident caused an uproar internationally.

Looking down from the top, the Koko Islands are like a sharp sword hanging on the head of the Andaman Nicobar Islands in India. The distance between the two is only 40 kilometers, and it is only about 900 kilometers away from India. Such a close distance is no wonder that India feels like pins and needles.

India has therefore exaggerated internationally, threatening that this is a part of China's "Pearl Chain" strategic plan. China is trying to set up a port of warship overseas through various means such as funding, which will pose a threat to world security.

, such a false remark, is completely a hat that capitalism is forcibly put on our country. From beginning to end, we are just for our own security considerations and have never been involved in the sovereignty of other countries.

India's jumping so much this time is just because our country controls the Koko Islands, which is equivalent to curbing India's intention to advance eastward, and the United States behind it is even more helpless.

. China-Myanmar exchanges

Logically speaking, it is very difficult to rent land from other countries. So why did Myanmar agree so happily? There are three reasons.

First, China and Myanmar reached a diplomatic relationship as early as 1950. When the new China was just established and isolated, Myanmar extended a helping hand and chose to establish diplomatic relations with us regardless of the threats of Western countries. This is the beginning of the establishment of friendly relations between China and Myanmar.

After this, China and Myanmar have started bilateral trade and have been showing a growth trend. It can be said that China-Myanmar's friendly diplomatic relations and customs trade exchanges have laid a good foundation for the lease of the Koko Islands.

Koko Islands

Secondly, for the sake of its own development, it is not harmful to renting the Koko Islands to China.

Before renting the Koko Islands to China, the development here was very backward because it was a long distance away from Myanmar and the transportation was extremely inconvenient. Therefore, the island had few residents, with only more than 1,000 households.

Because of its sparse population, the infrastructure on the island is extremely backward, with only eight hours of power supply a day, and most of the daily supplies also need to be transported from Myanmar via ferries.

But after China had the right to garrison, the situation was very different. In just over ten years, my country built an airport runway on the Koko Islands and extended it to 2,900 meters. It also built a photovoltaic power station, allowing the residents on the island to use electricity freely.

September 2019 The expansion and reclamation of Koko Islands Airport were basically completed

Since 2014, my country has also launched a reclamation project on Koko Islands, expanding the use area of ​​Koko Islands, which has further developed the Koko Islands.

Third, and the most important point, the Myanmar government leased the Koko Islands to China as an observation radar satellite center, which can not only promote Myanmar's domestic economic development, but also strengthen strategic cooperation with my country.

With the advent of the new century, my country has become more and more prominent on the world stage. The development speed of China's economy is also amazing.

Since Myanmar signed a lease agreement with China, China has also spared no effort to promote the promotion of trade activities with Myanmar.

Myanmar is located in Southeast Asia with superior natural conditions and ranks seventh in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2009, my country and Myanmar signed a crude oil pipeline agreement, and will set up crude oil pipelines between China and Myanmar the following year. The starting point is located in Mad Island, Myanmar and the end point is located in Chongqing.

Later, after this oil pipeline was opened, it could transport 22 million tons of crude oil into China every year. This is the fourth energy transmission line after my country-Kazakhstan crude oil pipeline, Central Asia natural gas pipeline and China-Russia crude oil pipeline. The completion and completion of this line means that my country's offshore crude oil imports can successfully bypass the Strait of Malacca and alleviate its dependence on the Strait of Malacca.

While opening up oil pipelines, a natural gas transportation pipeline has been established between China and Myanmar, which can transport 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas to my country every year.

In this way, our country's energy security will be fully guaranteed, not only to ensure quality and quantity, but also to no longer worry about being hindered by the international situation.

At the same time, for Myanmar, they originally used a large amount of oil and natural gas as exports. After China signed an agreement with Myanmar, they were equivalent to obtaining a large customer and could obtain stable foreign exchange income every year. Why don’t both sides do such a win-win policy?

To the present, trade cooperation between China and Myanmar has become increasingly close. my country is already Myanmar’s most important trading partner and the largest export market.

Summary

Koko Islands are like a strategic fulcrum. With it, my country has not only successfully grasped the dynamics of the Strait of Malacca, but also ensured the safety of maritime transportation, and brought the relationship with Myanmar closer, allowing crude oil imports to gain greater freedom, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.