These 16 maritime choke points have been firmly controlled, and to put it simply, let's see which 16 sea choke points they are.
Let's look at the closest to China.
1. The Korean Strait
For China, this is definitely a throat channel, and to go north to the Sea of Japan you have to pass through the Korean Strait. It is often said on TV news that the Tsushima Strait is part of Korean seafood, and Japan's Tsushima Island divides Korean seafood into two parts, the Busan Strait near South Korea in the west, which has a narrow waterway, and the Tsushima Strait near Japan in the east, with a wider channel.
From north to south, the Korean Strait is the only passage connecting China's Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and Sea of Japan in the north.
Korean Strait
Several naval battles have been recorded in the Korean Strait. The Battle of Luliang, where the combined naval forces of the Ming Dynasty and Korea defeated the Japanese navy in 1598. The Battle of Tsushima, the Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, took place here, and the Russian Second Pacific Fleet was almost completely destroyed.
In recent years, the mainland's fleet has also passed through the Korean Strait since then, attracting the attention of Japanese militarism. On March 29, 2023, three Chinese warships passed through the Tsushima Strait, and the United States and Japan were engaged in exercises in the Sea of Japan, which startled.
In the Korean Strait, there is South Korea's Busan Naval Base, which is the headquarters of the ROK Naval Operations Command and the U.S. Naval Command in South Korea, as well as the main rest base for U.S. warships in South Korea and an important seaborne and logistics supply base for U.S. forces in South Korea.
2. Bering Strait
The Bering Strait is sandwiched between the world's two great powers, between Cape Dezhnyov in Russia, the easternmost point of the Eurasian continent, and Cape Prince of Wales in the United States, the westernmost point of the American continent. To say that the Bering Strait is a pain for Russians should be agreed by everyone, Russia was besieged by European countries in the 19th century, and what made Russians more uncomfortable was the Crimean War, the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (now Italy) pressed Russia to the ground and rubbed, Russia failed miserably, had no money, and faced the danger that the land could not be held, so it endured the pain and sold 1.7 million square kilometers of Alaska in North America to the United States, if Alaska is still Russian, Only one machine gun at each end of the country could hold the Bering Strait.
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait is a water passage connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. In 2022, the combined fleet of China and Russia passed through the Bering Strait, shocking the old United States.
3. Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is fairly familiar Chinese and is jointly administered by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The Strait of Malacca is the closest waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Indian Ocean, and the South China Sea is connected to the mainland. If the Strait of Malacca were to be controlled, it would have to go around in a large circle from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. At the end of World War II, the East India Fleet of the British Royal Navy and the Japanese Combined Fleet fought the Battle of Malacca, and the British Navy beat the Japanese Navy.
Strait of Malacca
The importance of the Strait of Malacca is self-evident, the key is that there are several uncooked white-eyed wolves around the Strait of Malacca.
4. Sunda Strait
Xunta Strait, this strait is the sea route connecting the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean in the Pacific Ocean, if the Strait of Malacca is not passable, the fleet will have to work a little harder, open up the joints of Indonesia, and go all the way south through the Karimata Strait before entering the Strait of Malacca, and go west to Jakarta, you can see the Sunda Strait. The Indian Ocean is also accessible through the Sunda Strait. The U.S. Seventh Fleet now passes through the Sunda Strait frequently, shuttling between the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Sunda Strait
In 1942, a British destroyer was sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Sunda Strait.
V. Makassar Strait
Located between the islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi, the Makassar Strait is a strait in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago, which, like the Straits of Malacca and Sunda, runs east-west, but obliquely and upwards. Kaliman Island is north of the strait, which is shared by Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Sulawesi belongs to Indonesia and is south of the strait.
Makassar Strait
Further south of the Makassar Strait are Indonesia's Kuril Islands and Australia, and it is difficult to find a suitable shipping route connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the strait cannot be underestimated, and it is considered to be one of the eight major straits of great military and economic importance in the world.
In 1942 during World War II, four cruisers and eight destroyers of the Allied Navy attempted to attack the landing force in Japan's Makassar Strait, but two warships were sunk and returned.
6. Suez Canal
The Suez Canal is an important water channel, reflected in its dividing line between Asia and Africa, it is in Egypt, the west of the canal is Egypt's African plate, the east is Egypt's Asian plate, cow is not cattle, has the characteristics of Russian plate. The Suez Canal is the most direct water route between Asia, Africa and Europe. Without the Suez Canal, the cost of transporting goods was high, either unloading in Egypt and shipping them by land to Port Said in Egypt, or cargo ships detouring the Cape of Good Hope to European countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
Suez Canal
In March 2022, the Panamanian cargo ship "Changci" owned by Taiwan's Evergreen Group ran aground in the Suez Canal, losing nearly $10 billion a day in global trade, and Egypt netted $15 million a day from the Suez Canal. After the blockage of the Suez Canal, Egypt demanded $1 billion in compensation from Evergreen Group.
7. Bab el-Mandeb Strait
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is the only link between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, connecting the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. What much in the Gulf of Aden, the answer: pirates. We don't care how many pirates he has, and countries that have the ability often practice there.
Bab el-Mandeb Strait
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is located at the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, opposite the African continent, and at the entrance of this strait is a country called Djibouti. In 2017, the mainland established the Djibouti Support Base, the first overseas base of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Djibouti, to provide logistical support for the Navy's escort group in the Gulf of Aden and African peacekeepers. After we established a base in Djibouti, the small hearts of Western countries could not stand it.
8. Persian Gulf
Do you need to say more about the Persian Gulf, now it is a powder keg, and the United States pours the most gunpowder into this powder keg.
Persian Gulf
9. Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz has a very special status, to enter the Persian Gulf must pass through the Strait of Hormuz, connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, a veritable "Gulf throat", about one-third of the world's seaborne crude oil trade depends on the Strait of Hormuz, so it is known as the "valve of the world's oil depots". On one side of this strait is Oman, on the other is Iran, Oman has little role, and Iran reacts strongly in this strait.
Hormuz
The U.S. fleet often enters the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz to flex its might, nominally protective, but in fact intimidating. The United States and Iran also seized oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran's small speedboats surrounded the large American warship Sahuanzi, a sight.
10. Strait of Gibraltar
Follow the Suez Canal west into the Mediterranean, through the Tunisian Strait into the Tyrrhenian Sea and further west is the Strait of Gibraltar, through which you see the endless Atlantic Ocean. The Strait of Gibraltar is bordered by Spain in Europe to the north and Morocco in Africa to the south, with its narrowest point being only 14 km.
Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is the western outlet of the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal is the eastern outlet of the Mediterranean.
11. Skagerrak Strait
The terrain of Europe is not as simple as Asia, there are many bays jutting in, and a strait guarding the doorstep is the only way for ships to enter and exit.
Walking inside from the Skagerrak Strait, the water is still very rich, reaching out to the innermost is the Baltic Sea, this is known, the Baltic Fleet, one of Russia's four major naval fleets, is inside, the Americans want to close the door to the Skagerrak Strait, it is estimated that they think too much. Because there are several straits into the Baltic Sea, such as the Kattegat Strait and the Oresund Strait.
Skagerrak
12. Kattegat Strait
From the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic Sea is accessed through the Skagerrak Strait, followed by the Kattegat Strait. If the Strait of Skagerrak is the gateway to the Baltic Sea, then the Kattegat Strait is the throat of the Baltic Sea. Neighboring countries include Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and the strategic location is extremely important.
Kattegat
13. Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom Strait
It is a wide body of water, in the Atlantic Ocean, with Greenland to the northwest, Iceland in the middle, and Great Britain to the southeast, in order to prevent the Russian fleet from moving south from the Arctic Ocean.
Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom Strait
14. Panama Canal
The Panama Canal, like the Suez Canal, is an artificially carved river located in Panama and is the throat channel connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The American continent is a whole, thick at both ends and thin in the middle, and in 1914 the Americans dug the Panama Canal on the Isthmus of Panama, known as one of the world's seven engineering wonders "world bridge". The only way to get from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic, otherwise you'll have to make a detour through Argentina, which is too fuel-intensive.
Panama
The United States has controlled the Panama Canal for decades, not only because it can make a lot of money, but more importantly, its military status is unparalleled in the world's shipping lanes, especially the United States, which is afraid that other countries will bypass the Panama Canal and attack itself on both sides. In order to compete for the interests of the Panama Canal, the United States did not hesitate to wage war against Panama in 1989 to seize control of the Panama Canal. The frequent use of force against sovereign countries has become a normal behavior of the United States.
Panama canal
15. Florida Straits
The Florida Strait is located in Central America, connecting the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, the northern part of the strait is Miami, Florida, USA, and the south is Cuba, and Cuba's Havana is on the coast of the strait. Warships enter the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Strait, where Mexico, Cuba, and Guatemala are all included.
Florida Channel
In the middle of the Florida Strait there is a small island called Key West, on which the U.S. Navy established Key West, which is an important U.S. naval base and naval aviation maintenance station in the Gulf of Mexico, where the U.S. Navy's Fourth Fleet Command is stationed, and this port is used to monitor and repair Central and South America, especially countries in the Gulf of Mexico.
The extent of United States hooligans is also the establishment of a military base at Guantánamo in southeastern Cuba, the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, which manages the notorious Guantánamo prison.
16. Gulf of Alaska
As mentioned earlier, the Bering Strait is Alaska on the side of the United States, the Gulf of Alaska is located on the edge of Alaska in the United States, look at the map, the border between the United States and Canada is basically a straight line, in the Gulf of Alaska is zigzagged, is to put the Gulf of Alaska into the United States. The Gulf of Alaska, the throat passage declared by the United States to control in wartime, ranked first, apparently to guard against Russia, too close to the Bering Strait.
In 2021, the Continental naval formation operated near the Gulf of Alaska, which caused great concern in the United States.