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<p>This thesis examines the prospect of the People's Liberation Army Navy to gain access to naval facilities in  Burma and the implications for the Asia-Pacific region. With much of China's energy resources sailing through the  Strait of Malacca, Burma is in a strategic position to affect China's energy security design. If China were given  access to port facilities in Burma to service the expanding Chinese naval fleet, it would give PLAN the ability to  control maritime trade routes as well as the ability to command strategic chokepoints along those routes jeopardizing  the security interests of the maritime powers that depend on these waters. The increase in PLAN's capabilities could  generate an uncertain climate and prompt a build up of rival naval powers in the region.  This thesis will argue that although the PLA Navy will be able to ply China's extended sea lines of  communication with the help of Burmese naval facilities, the Chinese naval vessels have not attained sufficient  modernization to pose a major threat to the United States or the regional powers. It is also unlikely China would  challenge the U.S., the current guarantor of freedom of navigation, for dominance of the sea. The danger will come  from the regional instability caused by the naval arms race to counter the expanded capabilities of the PLA Navy.
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<br>Subjects:</div>
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Chin, Victor A.</div>
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