WOW! way more than interesting. It gives a view of the big picture that makes everything else fall into place. Seven out of Ten major choke points. 80% of world trade going through those choke points Hmmm.....
Two big reasons we never shifted away from oil as an energy source since WW2 are: From a military point of view gas and oil cannot be replaced. No other conventional energy source can replace fuel in fighter Jets ect. Other than that oil and gas could be replaced except that it also gives us a great excuse to go in to any Nation with an American oil company or an "American pipeline" to protect "American interests"
Now China will have "Chinese interests" in 7 of 10 major chokepoints for oil and commerce. China has control of the Seas and Russia is trying to gain control over the pipeline game in the Caspian Sea region and former Soviet controlled areas. Russia sells the subs and Onyx missiles that give the Chinese the muscle to protect their shipping "interests".
China is one of Nations that is propping up our bond market? Yes? So now they have the ability to deliver economic shocks both through dumping of bonds and buy stopping the flow of oil on the ocean.
Is China in control of when the credit bubble pops?
A move to Jakarta would put Russia close to the Strait of Malacca joining China and the United States among others as they vie for influence over this important shipping lane. On the campaign against terrorism, Australia and the US agreed that Southeast Asia was a key front, affirming the importance of working with regional governments against a common threat. #msg-3542419
In the Pacific Theatre Southeast Asia will be a strategic component of Bush’s world war.
The United States is trying for control of the Strait of Malacca. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said during a visit to Singapore that he hoped to have US troops fighting terrorism in Southeast Asia "pretty soon". His comments fuelled speculation that the United States wants to deploy US forces in the Strait of Malacca, the narrow and busy shipping lane straddled by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore that is seen as a likely terrorist target. More than one million tonnes of oil a year -- well over 80 percent of China's imports -- are shipped through the narrow strait. #msg-3404130 #msg-3998608
Note: Jakarta is the site of the Australian Embassy bombing of Sept. 9 and police are bracing for more terrorist threats ahead of and during the presidential election runoff on Monday. The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Banda Aceh/Palu/Jayapura http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20040919.A08&irec=3
-Am
Russia considers setting up security office in Indonesia
www.chinaview.cn 2004-09-18 16:36:50
JAKARTA, Sept. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia has expressed its interest in setting up a security bureau in Jakarta with the consent of the Indonesian government to help strengthen its efforts against terrorism, a visiting Russian official said.
First Director of Federal Security Service (FSB) Sergei Smirnov said he had discussed ways of combating terrorism with Chief of the Indonesian National Intelligence Agency (BIN) Lt. Gen. (ret) A.M. Hendropriyono.
"Our countries have one and the same enemy: terrorism," Smirnov was quoted Saturday by The Jakarta Post as saying.
Smirnov was in Jakarta to sign an information security agreement with Indonesian officials.
"I wish to propose the opening of a new permanent office of Federal Security Service in Indonesia to my superior (in Moscow),"he said.
"We also agreed to set up a direct telephone line between the chiefs of the intelligence agencies in Russia and Indonesia," he said without elaborating.
Smirnov said that there were similarities between the attacks in Russia and the one outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, which killed nine and injured more than 180.
"We also have the same problems, terrorists in Russia have received education from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia," said Smirnov, adding that Hendropriyono told him that he had received information that terrorists in Indonesia were trained from overseas, including Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Russia and Indonesia signed on Thursday an agreement on a mutual protection of classified information.
Under the agreement, the confidential information would allow Indonesia to obtain the technical manuals of military equipment itwould buy from Russia, but not be allowed to provide them to thirdparties.
In the past, Indonesia was only allowed to send technicians to learn and undergo training in Russia to operate the equipment. ButRussia did not allow the Indonesian officers to take manuals and training materials back home because these were considered to be classified information.
Indonesia spent 192.6 million US dollars to buy four Russian-made Sukhoi jet fighters last year. Enditem
CT, sara, I was contemplating the ‘Grand Game’ once again and….
In February 2003 the American Defense Council released a geopolitical and strategic assessment of China's global maritime power. The Council has identified 10 strategic global shipping choke points that make up the United States oil and trade lifelines. They note that in the last decade, China has succeeded in building, managing or operating strategic ports that are adjacent to or, as in the case of the Panama Canal, at the entrance and exit of 7 of the 10 global shipping choke points. #msg-4024852 American Defense Council report - "China's Growing Maritime Power--Geopolitical Strategic Assessment" - http://www.americandefensecouncil.com/maritimerepfin.pdf
In a countermove the United States is attempting to gain influence in these very same shipping choke points.
For example:
The United States originally wanted to deploy US troops in the Strait of Malacca through which almost all of China’s oil imports pass but have since bowed to foreign pressure to keep American troops out as the United States is perceived as part of the problem. Consequently the United States now hopes to have US troops fighting terrorism in Southeast Asia "pretty soon" somewhere but they have their heart set on the Strait of Malacca. #msg-3263991 #msg-3404130
It is entirely possible the United States, an ally of the UAE, is the hidden force behind the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) request that the European Union mediate the issue of the disputed islands between Iran and the UAE in an attempt to create an unhealthy political climate. The involvement of the EU has the potential to ignite an international crisis and divide the Arabs. This looks like the United States is attempting to escalate the territorial dispute as a means to diminish Iran.
The dispute over the islands is unresolved and I am not sure who legally owns them; they are, however, full of oil reserves and their strategic position could allow a country to influence the Gulf's valuable shipping lane, or even to close off the Gulf all together. #msg-3136614
In order to gain control of a shipping lane it helps to cozy up to an ally in the vicinity.
If the United States or China blocked a strategic choke point the flow of oil would be disrupted.
Therefore it is imperative that China efficiently set up a web of pipelines from neighboring countries.
Thus we read:
China is to focus on neighboring Central Asia for future oil needs and China has proposed an alternative route to the Malacca Strait, a Sino-Myanmar pipeline. #msg-4103878 #msg-4334255
The Chinese government utilizes the merchant fleet to support the military, and to deliver arms shipments. China’s shipbuilding industry is quickly growing to become a major force in this market. The China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) is a conglomerate that own 34 subsidiaries based in a dozen countries.
COSCO has a substantial presence at two strategically located ports in the world, Singapore and Port Said, Egypt at the entrance of the Suez Canal. There are credible reports linking COSCO to the Chinese military. The U.S. Congress’s Cox Report states, “Although presented as a commercial entity, COSCO is actually an arm of the Chinese military establishment.”
The ally in the vicinity of Port Said for the United States is Israel. Just as it would be beneficial for Israel and Iran to remain on the brink of war giving the United States another excuse to initiate hostilities against Iran and thus precede with their plan of Caspian oil domination it is to the advantage of the United States that Israel and Palestine stay locked in conflict close to Port Said and the Suez Canal. #msg-3775550
Israel started a new offensive in the Gaza Strip close to the Suez Canal where dozens had been killed.
On October 5, 2004 China “strongly urged” Israel to end military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Israel refused.
On October 7, explosions shook popular resorts on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where Israelis were vacationing Thursday night at the close of a Jewish holiday.
On October 7, Bush was on the phone to Hu Jintao of China for a long conversation but apparently the explosions were not discussed. Nor am I sure if the call was placed before or after the explosions. Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman, did not mention the shifts in Chinese politics, remaining vague about what prompted the call. He said it was "part of our continuing, constructive, cooperative and candid dialogue with China on U.S.-China relations."
Israel accussed al-Qaeda of masterminding the chain of blasts targeting Israeli tourists in Egypt's Red Sea resorts instead of the usual radical Palestinian militant groups.
Shalom said the fight against terror was far from being won since "organizations are behind it". Although he is not shy about saying ‘al-Qaeda’ he will not in this instance specify who the ‘organizations’ are.
China who sees Egypt as a springboard from which to expand their businesses or influence in Africa, the Middle East and Europe is a long time sponsor of al-Qaeda.
From China, a long time supporter of al Qaeda, came the concept for the second more deadly 9/11 attack against the United States, a major explosion at the World Trade Center, or a bombing attack by bin Laden.
As seen in China’s Master Plan to Destroy America, Unrestricted Warfare, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui (Beijing: PLA Literature and Arts Publishing House, February 1999) #msg-2380195 #msg-4246778
Were the explosions that shook the popular resorts on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula a warning from China to Israel to stay clear of Port Said? If they weren’t in the future they very well may be.
Gal Luft and Anne Korin International Herald Tribune Friday, October 29, 2004
WASHINGTON Since the attacks of Sept. 11, security experts have frequently invoked a 200-year-old model to guide leaders contending with the threat of Islamist terrorism: the war on piracy. But the popular perception that sea piracy has been eliminated is far from true.
Not only has piracy never been eradicated, but the number of pirate attacks on ships has tripled in the past decade, putting piracy at its highest level in modern history. According to the International Maritime Bureau, ship owners reported 445 attacks by pirates in 2003 - almost double the number of the year before.
Most disturbing, piracy is turning into a key tactic of terrorist groups. Unlike the pirates of old, whose sole objective was quick commercial gain, many of today's pirates are maritime terrorists with an ideological agenda. This nexus of piracy and terrorism is especially dangerous for energy markets, since most of the world's oil and gas is shipped through the world's most pirate-infested waters.
Some 4,000 tankers carry 60 percent of the world's oil on the high seas. And while much has been done to improve maritime security since Sept. 11, the sea remains relatively unpoliced. Terrorists are well aware that an oil market with little wiggle room offers an ideal target for undermining the world economy. Oil supplies are, in the words of Al Qaeda, "the provision line and the feeding to the artery of the life of the crusader nation."
With oil prices at an all-time high and spare capacity gradually eroding, the implications of a terrorist attack at sea would be profound.
If an oil tanker were attacked in the open sea, the impact on the energy market would be marginal. But geography forces tankers to pass through strategic chokepoints, such as the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Red Sea, the Bosporus, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal - all areas in which Islamist terror groups with maritime capabilities are already active.
The Strait of Malacca, which separates Indonesia and Malaysia, is the conduit for more than half of East Asia's oil supply. Were terrorists to hijack a tanker, sail it into the Strait and blow it up, the immediate outcome would be a dramatic spike in oil prices, an increase in the price of shipping and maritime insurance, congestion in sea lanes and ports, and a likely environmental disaster.
In some chokepoints, maritime attacks have already been attempted. In his 2003 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush revealed that U.S. forces had prevented terrorist attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Indonesian state intelligence agency, detained members of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group have admitted that the group planed to launch attacks on Malacca shipping.
In June 2002, the Moroccan government arrested a group of Al Qaeda operatives suspected of plotting raids on tankers passing through the Strait of Gibraltar. The attack on the French oil tanker Limburg in October 2002 took place off the coast of Yemen, only 300 miles from Bab-el-Mandeb.
Terrorists who want to cripple the global economy need not bother attacking countries where security is tight. They can inflict the same damage by launching attacks in the territorial waters of countries lacking the will or the resources to police their own maritime back yard.
To reduce the risk of such attacks, industrialized nations that depend on imported oil must help bolster the naval capabilities of countries located near strategic chokepoints - and, if necessary, send their own navies to patrol these areas. Joint naval exercises, cooperation in law enforcement operations and the creation of information-sharing mechanisms can help monitor, identify and intercept suspicious vessels in national and international waters.
But tactical solutions are not enough. As with the broader war on terrorism, the war on terrorists at sea is a long-term effort. Major energy consumers and producers should focus not only on ways to fight terror at sea, but also on how to better cushion the blow to their economies in the case of a major disruption of oil traffic. For example, they should build strategic petroleum reserves sufficient to replace weeks of imports, similar to the one the United States already has.
Projects designed to bypass the dangerous chokepoints, or at least reduce some of the traffic through them, such as the Strategic Energy Land Bridge - a 150-mile pipeline traversing the Kra isthmus in Thailand and bypassing the Strait of Malacca - are no less important.
Of course, as the world's energy supply is likely to remain a target, oil consumers should also begin to replace imported energy with next-generation energy derived from domestic resources.
Such a shift will not only increase energy independence for the free world, it will also reduce the need to ship oil through anarchic, pirate-infested waters and thus reduce the world's vulnerability to a catastrophic disruption of its energy supply.
China Gains Entry into Malaysian and Pakistani Ports.
The Malaysian access puts China next to the Strait of Malacca while Pakistan’s Gwadar would place the Chinese next to the Strait of Hormuz.
In the Pacific Theatre 'on the campaign against terrorism' Australia and the US agreed that South East Asia was a key front. #msg-3542419
Much of the South East Asian front will be centered around the Malacca Strait.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said during a visit to Singapore that he hoped to have US troops fighting terrorism in Southeast Asia "pretty soon". His comments fuelled speculation that the United States wants to deploy US forces in the Strait of Malacca, the narrow and busy shipping lane straddled by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore that is seen as a likely terrorist target.
More than one million tonnes of oil a year -- well over 80 percent of China's imports -- are shipped through the narrow strait. #msg-3404130 #msg-4474975 #msg-4500069
Gwadar would place the Chinese navy next to Iran’s shipping lane the Strait of Hormuz. The Chinese have a considerable investment in Iran’s oil and gas. Bush plans on attacking Iran by choking the Strait of Hormuz. See also: #msg-3483139 #msg-2645232 #msg-3864658
While this may change, an amphibious attack was originally targeted against Iran from the Arabian Sea, with a provocative US blockade in the Gulf of Oman to choke Iran’s sealanes of communications. Pakistan would be the base for mounting massive air reconnaissance and surveillance of Iran, while Iranian dissidents, backed by the US army, would launch land assaults from the Iraq-Iran border. Diplomatic sources say, the main body of the plan would remain the same, although component tactics could change. http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/07/03/d40703100483.htm #msg-4519078
Note: The Chinese government utilizes the merchant fleet to support the military, and to deliver arms shipments. China’s shipbuilding industry is quickly growing to become a major force in this market. #msg-4372035
See also: China's control of global shipping choke points #msg-4024852
-Am
Malaysia expanding ports to woo China
Saturday November 13, 2004
BY DAVID TAN BEIJING: Malaysia is expanding its port facilities in the next five years to attract more shipping lines from China, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said.
“As I will be meeting with my counterpart in China today, I will stress the point that we are building new facilities in the next five years to expand our cargo handling and storage capabilities,” he said.
“We want to enhance our shipping ties with China,” he said yesterday after witnessing a signing ceremony between Chery Automobiles Co Ltd and Alado Corp Sdn Bhd.
Chan said the second-largest shipping line here had recently agreed to set up its headquarters for South-East Asia in Malaysia.
“Since Malaysia heads the working committee of Singapore-Kunming Railway Line (SKRL), I will also bring the matter of sourcing for financial and technical support from China with my counterpart here,” he said.
He added that the SKRL would be an important subject of discussion at the forthcoming Asean Transport Minister meeting.
On public transportation projects in the country, Chan said the Government was looking at grouping all relevant government agencies into one body to facilitate the implementation and coordination of those projects.
In the Cox Report issued by Congress, it stated that the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) is actually an arm of the Chinese military establishment.** [COSCO is a large conglomerate making international shipping as its core business and encompassing shipping agency, forwarding, air freight forwarding, terminals and warehousing, inland haulage, trade, industry, financial affairs, insurance, real estate, tourism, contract employment and medium-level and higher education, It is one of the 56 big Group of enterprises approved by the State.] #msg-4024852
Thus the Chinese military establishment under COSCO will have a presence at the port of Ningbo.
This looks to be a Chinese military port right in the middle of the Koreas, Japan and Taiwan.
-Am
COSCO Pacific in talks on mainland port plan
www.chinaview.cn 2004-12-14 13:11:03
BEIJING, Dec. 14 -- Mainland container leasing and port investor Cosco Pacific is in talks with China’s Ningbo Port about investing in a new container terminal, newspapers reported Sunday.
The port of Ningbo, one of busiest ports on the mianland, said in November it planned a US$1.05 billion expansion with three Hong Kong firms to build up to nine container berths.
The port, in the wealthy eastern Zhejiang Province, declined to name the partners but said the Hong Kong firms would cover half the investment and the city of Ningbo would supply the rest of the funding.
“We are interested in all important ports in China,” the South China Morning Post quoted Wei Jiafu, chief executive of COSCO’s parent firm, China Ocean Shipping Group, as saying on the sidelines of an international logistics forum in Shenzhen over the weekend.
“It is the Hong Kong-based company, COSCO Pacific, which is involved in the discussions.”
Trade in China, the world’s seventh-largest economy, is booming as multinationals set up factories to tap cheap labor to produce export goods and as the country gorges on imported resources and finished goods.
Ningbo Port Group already runs port joint ventures with Asia’s richest businessman, Li Ka-shing, via his ports-to-telecom conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. (Regarding Li Ka-shing see China’s Taking of the Panama Canal#msg-2384357)
Statistics show that mainland’s trade with the rest of the world continue to rise, boosting shipping demand.
This is being denied however many times in denial there is confirmation.
Contemplated within the context of the Grand Game a Falklands invasion may not be cod’s wallop. The Falkland Islands are close to the Strait of Magellan. While the Strait of Magellan is not one of the ten major choke points that are now being fought over it is significant enough to merit new consideration. #msg-4024852
-Am
FIBS NEWS DIRECT: MONDAY, 23 MAY 2005 FALKLANDS INVASION ALERT:
“Falklands Invasion Alert” was a headline story on the front page of yesterday’s Sunday Express but there is nothing to worry about according to officials here. This morning, Corina Bishop (CB) spoke to this month’s Council Representative, Cllr Norma Edwards (NE) to find out what she thinks about the article.
NE: I don’t really know what to make of it. I think it is just somebody who is looking for a story and must be hard up for a story. I spoke to Emma on the phone in the UK and asked her to buy the paper had have a look at the article for me and she read it to me. It’s written by somebody called Stuart Winter. He’s not a well known journalist by any means. It seems to me that it’s probably old interviews with people that have been patched together. I haven’t a clue who his source is within the Ministry of Defence. But as far as I know, It’s a load of cod’s wallop. It’s an alarmist kind of article and I can’t really see the sense of publishing something like that and there is absolutely no truth in it.
SF: The article, which takes up two pages, claims that the military presence here is to be increased from 3,000 to 5,000 within the next three months and that the recent arrival in the area of HMS Portland is a move to reassure the Islanders. Corina asked Governor Howard Pearce (HP) what he makes of the story.
HP: I am very puzzled by it. And, I can say that there is absolutely no substance in the story. It is, of course, common knowledge that the current Argentine Government has reduced the level of co-operation with the Falkland Islands but there is no reason at all to believe that there is any increase in the threat to the Islands’ security. I can say, too, that there are no plans to increase the size of British Forces in the Falkland Islands and also that the current deployment of HMS Portland in the South Atlantic is entirely routine.
CB: What, if any action could be taken against the paper? Would anything be done, do you think?
HP: That’s very much a matter for the UK Government. But it’s not uncommon for inaccurate stories to be carried in the press.
CB: Do you think this could have any impact on Britain’s relationship with Argentina?
HP: I certainly hope not. And, I think the Argentine authorities understand as well as we do that sometimes newspapers carry stories that have no basis in facts. I am sure it happens in the Argentine Press from time to time.
CB: So you are saying that people have absolutely noting to worry about?
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
