String of Pearls (Indian Ocean)

The String of Pearls is a geopolitical hypothesis proposed by United States political researchers in 2004.[1] The term refers to the network of Chinese military and commercial facilities and relationships along its sea lines of communication, which extend from the Chinese mainland to Port Sudan in the Horn of Africa. The sea lines run through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb, the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Lombok Strait as well as other strategic maritime centres in Somalia and the littoral South Asian countries of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Maldives.

Many commentators in India believe this plan, together with the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor and other parts of China's Belt and Road Initiative under Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping, is a threat to India's national security.[2][3] Such a system would encircle India[2] and threaten its power projection, trade, and potentially territorial integrity.[4] Furthermore, China's support for India's traditional enemy of Pakistan and its Gwadar Port is viewed as a threat, compounded by fears that China may develop an overseas naval military base in Gwadar,[2] which could allow China to conduct expeditionary warfare in the Indian Ocean Region.[5] From the east, the deep-water port of Kyaukpyu is also viewed with a similar concern.[3] The first comprehensive academic analyses of Chinese plan and its security implications for New Delhi was undertaken in February 2008 by an active-duty Indian naval officer.[6] Antedating China's anti-piracy naval deployment in the Indian Ocean beginning in December 2008, and the ensuing acquisition of its first overseas military base in Djibouti in August 2017, his analysis predicting China's "permanent military presence" in the Indian Ocean is viewed by Indian policymakers as prescient. Accordingly, India has since been making moves of various types to counter the threat.[7]

The term as a geopolitical concept was first used in an internal US Department of Defense report, "Energy Futures in Asia" in 2005.[8] The term is also widely used in India's geopolitical and foreign policy narratives to highlight India's concerns over massive Chinese Belt and Road Initiative projects across southern Asia.[9] According to the EUISS, the formation of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (consisting of United States, India, Australia and Japan) is a direct result of China's assertive foreign and security policy in the Indo-Pacific region.[10]

The emergence of the String of Pearls is indicative of China's growing geopolitical influence through concerted efforts to increase access to ports and airfields, expand and modernise military forces, and foster stronger diplomatic relationships with trading partners.[11] The Chinese government insists that China's burgeoning naval strategy is entirely peaceful and is only for the protection of regional trade interests.[12] Chinese Communist Party general secretaries Hu Jintao[12] and Xi Jinping[13] have both asserted that China will never seek hegemony in foreign relations. A 2013 analysis by The Economist also found the Chinese moves to be commercial in nature.[14] Although it has been claimed that China's actions are creating a security dilemma between China and India in the Indian Ocean, that has been questioned by some analysts, who point to China's fundamental strategic vulnerabilities.[15]

  1. ^ Marantidou, Virginia. "Revisiting China's 'String of Pearls' Strategy: Places 'with Chinese Characteristics' and their Security Implications" (PDF). Issues & Insights. 14 (7). Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Here Is All You Should Know About 'String Of Pearls', China's Policy To Encircle India". indiatimes.com. 22 June 2017. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b Lintner, Bertil (15 April 2019). The Costliest Pearl: China's Struggle for India's Ocean. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-78738-239-8.
  4. ^ Dutta, Prabhash K. (15 June 2017). "Can China really encircle India with its String of Pearls? The great game of Asia". India Today. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  5. ^ Times, EurAsian (31 March 2018). "China's "String of Pearls" Resulted in India's 1st Loss at the Indian Ocean". EurAsian Times: Latest Asian, Middle-East, EurAsian, Indian News. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  6. ^ Khurana, Gurpreet S China's 'String of Pearls' in the Indian Ocean and Its Security Implications Archived 1 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine Strategic Analysis 32 (1): February 2008, 1-39.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference TheWorld2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "China builds up strategic sea lanes" Archived 30 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Times, Washington, 17 January 2005. Retrieved on 4 May 2013.
  9. ^ C. Raja Mohan (28 November 2012). Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific. Brookings Institution Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0870033063.
  10. ^ "Indo-Pacific brief" (PDF). www.iss.europa.eu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  11. ^ Pehrson, Christopher J.String of Pearls: Meeting the Challenge of China's Rising Power Across the Asian Littoral. Archived 20 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine, "Carlisle Papers in Security Strategy", July 2006. Retrieved on 4 May 2013.
  12. ^ a b Hu: China Would Never Seek Hegemony Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, "Xinhua News Agency", Beijing, 23 April 2009. Retrieved on 4 May 2013.
  13. ^ Buckley, Chris; Myers, Steven Lee (18 December 2018). "4 Takeaways from Xi Jinping's Speech Defending Communist Party Control". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  14. ^ "China's growing empire of ports abroad is mainly about trade, not aggression". The Economist. 8 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  15. ^ David Brewster. "Beyond the String of Pearls: Is there really a Security Dilemma in the Indian Ocean?". Retrieved 11 August 2014. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)