The Strait of Malacca as one of the most important geopolitical regions for the People’s Republic of China. By: Guillermo Pineda The geographical hotspots of the world are all related to economic trade and global exchange of political interests. Places such as the Panama and Suez Canals have always been in the Western media. However, from an economic and strategic perspective, the Strait of Malacca is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world in the 21 st Century. The history of this Strait’s geopolitical relevance goes as back as 400 years of history. For centuries the strait has been the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It has been controlled by the major regional powers and also by the mayor global power during different historical periods. In 2011 hundreds of thousands of containers in more than 60,000 vessels crossed its waters carrying about one-quarter of the world's traded goods including oil, Chinese 1 manufactures, and Indonesian coffee. 2 In order to understand which is the geopolitical importance of the Strait of Malacca for the Chinese government we need to overview the current geopolitical dynamics and economic investments in the region. More so, approximately thirty five percent of all the oil containers carried by water goes through this strait from the Middle East toward China, Japan, South Korea, and the Pacific Rim. In 2011, it became the key chokepoint of oil trade in Asia with an estimated 15.2 million-bbl./d. flow in 2011, compared to 13.8 million- bbl./d. in 2007. Crude oil makes up about 90 percent of flows, with the remainder being petroleum products. 3 1 In the paper I will refer to “China” instead of using the official name of “People’s Republic of China” for the sake of the essay’s readability. 2 Freeman, Donald B. 2003. The Straits of Malacca gateway or gauntlet? Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10132868 (Accessed: 31. August 2012). 3 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) permanent link: http://www.eia.gov/about/