This Perspective is a summary of a full-length piece available here.
The breakneck pace of China's economic expansion has the dragon by the tail: oil demand and dependence on foreign sources of supply have skyrocketed. The Chinese leadership recognizes that sustaining economic growth hinges on continued access to large quantities of imported oil. As a result, energy security occupies center stage in China's approach to modernization and in its foreign policy decision-making and conduct.
China's efforts to offset the risks of increasing dependence on foreign oil consist mainly of state-mandated and state-supported energy industry initiatives aimed at secure long-term access to oil supplies through broadening the scope of its energy partnerships and by diversifying energy suppliers both within, and away from, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Yet, these efforts have thus far yielded mixed results. China remains tethered to the Persian Gulf.
Because in recent years China has cast its net ever more widely to meet its energy requirements, Chinese interests have perforce intersected with those of the United States - in the Middle East, in Central Asia, in Russia, and in East Asia. Given its global strategic supremacy and the fact that Sino-American relations have been largely positive and constructive since 9/11, the United States should resist the temptation to undercut China's efforts to satisfy its energy requirements.
Dr. John Calabrese is the Book Review Editor for the Middle East Journal and teaches US foreign policy at American University.
Disclaimer: Assertions and opinions in this Commentary are solely those of the above-mentioned author(s) and do not reflect necessarily the views of the Middle East Institute, which expressly does not take positions on Middle East policy.
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This Perspective is a summary of a full-length piece available here.
The breakneck pace of China's economic expansion has the dragon by the tail: oil demand and dependence on foreign sources of supply have skyrocketed. The Chinese leadership recognizes that sustaining economic growth hinges on continued access to large quantities of imported oil. As a result, energy security occupies center stage in China's approach to modernization and in its foreign policy decision-making and conduct.
China's efforts to offset the risks of increasing dependence on foreign oil consist mainly of state-mandated and state-supported energy industry initiatives aimed at secure long-term access to oil supplies through broadening the scope of its energy partnerships and by diversifying energy suppliers both within, and away from, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Yet, these efforts have thus far yielded mixed results. China remains tethered to the Persian Gulf.
Because in recent years China has cast its net ever more widely to meet its energy requirements, Chinese interests have perforce intersected with those of the United States - in the Middle East, in Central Asia, in Russia, and in East Asia. Given its global strategic supremacy and the fact that Sino-American relations have been largely positive and constructive since 9/11, the United States should resist the temptation to undercut China's efforts to satisfy its energy requirements.
Dr. John Calabrese is the Book Review Editor for the Middle East Journal and teaches US foreign policy at American University.