80% of China's Oil Goes Through Malacca — So China Built a Secret Escape Route

#China #StraitOfHormuz #StraitOfMalacca How is China using Myanmar to bypass the Strait of Malacca? About 80% of China's imported oil squeezes through a strait less than 3 km wide at its tightest point, watched over by navies that aren't Chinese. So China dug a back door: a pipeline from a small island off Myanmar's coast, across an entire country at war, into the mountains of southwest China. This is the China–Myanmar pipeline explained on the map. It starts with the Malacca Dilemma, the fear Hu Jintao named in 2003. Then the back door China built: the port of Kyaukphyu on the Bay of Bengal, 770 km of oil and gas pipelines to Yunnan, the Shwe gas field and a $7.3 billion deep-sea port plan. 0:00 China's back door around Malacca 0:37 The Strait of Malacca 1:26 The Malacca Dilemma 1:55 Why Myanmar is the perfect shortcut 2:40 Building the China–Myanmar pipelines 4:04 The Kyaukphyu deep-sea port 4:35 Problem 1: the oil still passes Hormuz 5:50 Problem 2: how small it really is 6:26 Problem 3: a pipeline through a civil war 7:36 The battle for Kyaukphyu 9:15 Why China is still betting on Myanmar 11:14 Can China really bypass Malacca? Watch next: How China Is Using Kazakhstan to Bypass the Strait of Hormuz. 📚 SOURCES Modern Diplomacy, "The Malacca Dilemma and China's Response" (Sep 2026) Global Energy Monitor, "Sino-Myanmar Oil Pipeline" The Irrawaddy, "Junta airstrikes near China pipeline risk catastrophe in Shan State" (2023) The Diplomat, "Myanmar's Depleted Oil Pipeline" (Aug 2026) Kpler, "Why the real oil shock may only begin when China returns" (2026) Spotted a mistake? Tell me below with a source and I'll pin the correction. Map data & imagery: Elevation: AWS Terrain Tiles (Mapzen) · Natural Earth – public domain · Night lights: NASA Earth Observatory / GIBS (Black Marble) #China #StraitOfHormuz #StraitOfMalacca