Sino U S Energy Triangles

The remarkable performance of the Chinese economy in the last three decades has placed China at the centre of the world stage. In 1993, China became a net importer of energy, although it was not until the early 2000s that the world began to pay more attention to China’s energy needs and its potential impact on the world. With China’s energy search occurring within a hegemonic global structure dominated by the United States, the US watches with interest as China enhances its ties with energy-rich states. The book examines this triangular relationship and questions whether the US and China are in competition regarding access to the energy of a third state, within the context of a potential power transition. It includes case studies on China's energy relationship with countries such as Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Iran, Sudan and Venezuela and aims to understand the way a rising power interacts with the existing leading power and the possible outcome of this competition. The analytical framework employed helps the reader to understand not only the nature and pattern of triangles among US, China and the Resource Rich States under ‘resource diplomacy’, but also the salient features of US-China competition around the world. Making an impressive contribution to the literature in fields such as US-China relations, international relations, Chinese foreign policy and global energy geopolitics, this book will appeal to students and scholars of these subjects.

The remarkable performance of the Chinese economy in the last three decades has placed China at the centre of the world stage. In 1993, China became a net importer of energy, although it was not until the early 2000s that the world began to pay more attention to China’s energy needs and its potential impact on the world. With China’s energy search occurring within a hegemonic global structure dominated by the United States, the US watches with interest as China enhances its ties with energy-rich states. The book examines this triangular relationship and questions whether the US and China are in competition regarding access to the energy of a third state, within the context of a potential power transition. It includes case studies on China's energy relationship with countries such as Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Iran, Sudan and Venezuela and aims to understand the way a rising power interacts with the existing leading power and the possible outcome of this competition. The analytical framework employed helps the reader to understand not only the nature and pattern of triangles among US, China and the Resource Rich States under ‘resource diplomacy’, but also the salient features of US-China competition around the world. Making an impressive contribution to the literature in fields such as US-China relations, international relations, Chinese foreign policy and global energy geopolitics, this book will appeal to students and scholars of these subjects.

China's rise in the global arena is undeniably altering the global status quo. Its rise is closely linked to and reflected in its rising dependence on imported oil, adroit soft power, economic prowess and corresponding impressive economic growth, its military modernization, and its strategic engagement of the world as an alternative model of political and economic development. As the status quo changes, the United States theoretically becomes less influential politically, economically, and militarily, because China is skillfully harnessing and strategically exercising the elements of national power to acquire scarce oil energy resources in the Near East, Western Hemisphere, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Chinese Energy Futures and Their Implications for the United States, by George Eberling, examines how Chinese oil energy specifically will shape future Sino-American relations under conditions of dependency and non-dependency, and whether competition or cooperation for scarce energy resources will result. Eberling uses both scenario analysis and the PRINCE method to examine three possible Chinese oil energy futures: Competitive Dependency, Competitive Surplus, and Cooperative Surplus. Chinese Energy Futures also discusses and evaluates the strategic implications of these scenarios with respect to the United States.

The United States has been deeply involved in the Middle East for more than a half century and seized with China's role in the world for a similar period of time. Up to now, the two issues have remained distinct. Increasingly, China's growing thirst for energy has brought it to the Middle East, where governments are curious how the growing superpower might fit into their own strategic understanding of the world. China's increasing role in the Middle East comes at a time when the United States is itself deeply enmeshed in the region, setting up the possibility of competition or even conflict between the two great powers. This volume explores the complex interrelationships among China, the United States, and the Middle East-what the authors call the "vital triangle." There is surely much to be gained from continuing the conventional two-dimensional analysis-China and the United States, the United States and the Middle East, and China and the Middle East. Such scholarship has a long history and no doubt a long future. But it is the three-dimensional equation-which seeks to understand the effects of the China-Middle East relationship on the United States, the U.S.-Middle East relationship on China, and the Sino-American relationship on the Middle East-that draws the authors' attention here. This approach captures the true dynamics of change in world affairs and the spiraling up and down of national interests. Central to this analysis is a belief that if any one of the three sides of this triangular relationship is unhappy, it has the power to make the other two unhappy as well. The stakes and the intimacy of the interrelationship highlight not only the importance of reaching accommodation, but also the potential payoff of agreement on common purpose.

Global energy needs are rising inexorably despite soaring prices while petroleum production is struggling to keep pace, as many existing oilfields go into decline and new reserves become rarer and increasingly difficult to exploit. In this tightening supply situation, the world is witnessing a triangular race between United States, China and India to secure their future energy supplies. The United States, already the world’s largest energy consumer and oil importer may be overtaken by China in the coming decades as the latter aggressively seeks new supplies to fuel its phenomenal growth. India, with its burgeoning population is also poised for dramatic economic development and remains heavily dependent on energy imports to bridge the widening gap between modest domestic production and surging demand. Even as the global economic gravity shifts towards Asia, much of the continent’s oil imports will continue to be sourced from the Arabian Gulf, binding major Asian powers ever closer to the region. What are the international implications of this triangular race for energy supplies? Will it lead to strategic cooperation, competition or even conflict between the three countries? How will oil geopolitics and energy security considerations shape the foreign policies of China and India and the United States? How can the Gulf countries meet and capitalize on the energy needs of these three global players? What strategic partnerships will emerge as the Gulf countries perform a delicate balancing act in this critical supply scenario? These and related issues were discussed by energy experts who assembled at the ECSSR Twelfth Annual Energy Conference on China, India and the United States: Competition for Energy Resources held from November 19–21, 2006 in Abu Dhabi. This volume of compiled conference presentations offers global, regional and country-wise perspectives on the international race for energy resources and its wider economic and political ramifications.

China has developed sophisticated hedging strategies for managing the international petroleum market, maintaining a favorable energy mix, pursuing overseas equity oil production, building a state-owned tanker fleet and strategic petroleum reserve, establishing cross-border pipelines, and diversifying its energy resources and routes. Though it cannot be “secured,” China’s energy security can be “insured” by marrying government concern with commercial initiatives. This book identifies the interrelationship between security and profit that better describes China’s energy-security policy.

China’s rapid economic growth in the recent decades has produced an unprecedented energy vulnerability that could threaten the sustainability of its economic development, a linchpin to social stability and ultimately the regime legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as well as the foundation for China's rising power aspirations. What is the Chinese perception of the energy security and challenges, how has the Chinese government responded to the challenges? What are the international implications of China’s search for energy security? This collection of contributions by leading scholars seeks answers to these extremely important questions. The book is divided into three parts. Part I presents an overview of China’s sense of energy security and its strategic responses. Part II examines China’s energy policy-making processes, the efforts to reform and reorganize the energy sector and reset policy priorities Part III focuses on the international implications of China’s search for energy security. This book consists of articles published in the Journal of Contemporary China.