The Epoch Times
US and India should work together to counter China in the Indian Ocean
News Analysis
The United States and India are threatened as the Chinese regime stands on the brink of securing a port in the Indian Ocean on pace to achieve its goal of sea control by 2030 and naval superiority by 2049.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a long history of circumventing sanctions to support the military rulers of Burma (also known as Myanmar). The stakes are made even higher by the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), a portion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, also known as “One Belt, One Road”) that runs from China’s Yunnan Province to a Burmese port on the Indian Ocean.
CMEC will enable the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to encroach on India in the Bay of Bengal. It will also allow CCP oil shipments to avoid the Strait of Malacca, which the U.S. Seventh Fleet patrols. While the United States and India appear to be at odds over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the two have a shared interest in preventing the PLAN from gaining access to the Indian Ocean.
