In an interview with Singapore’s The Straits Times, co-author of the proposal Professor Li Chengyang said, “Most of China’s oil imports come from the Middle East and Africa. Given the current situation in the Malacca Strait, we feel that we should come up with a suitable alternative.”
“China [should] build an oil pipeline from Myanmar’s western deepwater port of Sittwe across the country to the south-western Chinese city of Kunming,” he added.
According to the International Maritime Bureau, “China is concerned that the rise in terrorist activities in South-east Asia will increase the risk of a terrorist strike in the strait, where four-fifths of its oil imports must pass through.”
“Also, South-east Asia is home to the world's most pirate-infested waters, with 79 attacks in the first quarter of this year [alone], said the Bureau.
