A Study On The Impact Of China 's Energy Security Strategy On Sino - US Relations

This article analyzes the Sino-U. S. relationship based on their energy security strategies and focuses on China’s energy security strategy. After the Cold War, the Sino-U. S. relationship has become the most important national relationship in the international society. Both countries develop overall cooperation in economic affairs but have an opposite, competitive and cooperative relationship in strategic security affairs and also have a similar relationship in energy security. Nowadays, energy security has become a more important factor in nation’s security and economic development. Energy, especially the oil, is a kind of strategic resources. The oil supply is not only related to a country’s economic development but also related to stability of the society, regional security and political and military situations in the world. Therefore, the modern industrial countries, no matter the developed or the developing countries,regard the oil security as an important part of national security and economic security.As an emerging economic giant, China’s demand on energy consumption is soaring with its economic development and it has a stronger sense of crisis on unbalanced international supply and demand and skyrocketing price in short term. Therefore, the Chinese Government takes the security supply of energy resources which focuses on oils as the biggest goal in energy security. To achieve such goal, the most important is to take security supply and transportation of energy as the backing. On the contrary, the U. S. energy strategy is based on energy control and is to be achieved by means of lead international orders. Therefore, the U. S. guarantees energy by means of super energy companies on the one hand, and imposes political, diplomatic and military influences as supplementary methods on the other hand in order to maintain its nation-leading energy hegemony.There are many factors threatening China’s energy security. To China who has a greatly interdependency on external supply of oils, the most severe threatening factors are security of transportation routes during crude oil supply and instability of crude oil price. Therefore, in order to guarantee energy security, China is actively developing energy guarantee strategy on the one hand, and boosting diversity of energy transportation routes, modernization of navy and strategic oil reserve.With respect to energy supply security, the amount of crude oil consumed by China and the U.S. is far more than their output and their demand is increasing continuously. Especially that the U.S. intends to maintain its world hegemony by means of energy control, while China is implementing active and aggressive energy strategy in order to guarantee independent and security energy supply. By this token, competition between China and the U.S. focusing on energy guarantee will be even more intense.Among challenge factors of energy security confronted with China, the most practical threatening factor is related to energy transportation routes. The U.S. controls energy transportation routes by its military power. In the meantime, the U.S. is considered as the one and only country which has a military power to block the Strait of Malacca. China is most worried about that the U.S.A. may block the Straits of Malacca. President Hu Jintao called such worry as "Malacca Dilemma". China is dedicated to guarantee security of transportation routes. In the meantime of seeking diversity of oil importers and importing routes, China is strengthening its military power. The U. S. is worried about China’s intention of guaranteeing security of marine transportation routes through strengthening military power and takes methods to contain China’s such intention. It is obvious that China and the U.S. are having possibility of conflict. However, it is least possible that China and the U.S. will be in conflict because of marine transportation routes, because non-traditional security issues have threatened China’s and the U. S.’s energy transportation security, meanwhile, security of marine transportation routes is common interest of both countries in peacetime. Therefore, with respect to interdependence, China and the U. S. will jointly settle non-traditional security issues such as pirates through cooperation.Although China and the U. S. have competition in guaranteeing energy supply, both countries are energy consumers greatly depending on import and have common interest in stability of oil prices and supply. Therefore, it is possible for China and the U.S. to cooperate in strategic oil reserve in China. The U.S. and the IEA invite China to participate in the IEA and the IEA Emergency Sharing System. The existing article of IEA provides that the member countries must be members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), but the IEA even shows that it considers revising such article in order to let China join it. At present, China worries that it may be controlled by the U. S. if it participates in the IEA led by the U. S., but with respect to the interests of the game, interests of member countries of the IEA and China are consistent. China’s participation in the IEA may further strengthen the IEA’s ability of intervening in world oil market. China’s participation may not reduce the oil price in a short term, but it can strengthen IEA’s ability of guaranteeing stability of world oil price. All energy consumers can indirectly make profits so as to maintain stable economic development.In brief, the author thought that the reason of China’s energy security strategy, the potential for conflict between China and the U.S. is not too big. With effort of the energy diplomacy which China is active, the influence of China will increase about the oil-producing countries. And the enhancement of China’s naval forces, caused by the military power has increased and the arms race in Northeast Asian countries in the region. This can threaten regional security and Sino-US relations. But, in the short term, this is not the challenge to American hegemonie, moreover cannot cause big change of the world energy order. Sino-U. S. relations around the oil in the competition and cooperation coexist. However, due to oil’s almost no possibility of war. The two countries both China and the U.S is a country to pursue their own interests. Furthermore, Both China and the U.S. The two countries should ensure energy security for its national security. So, the author thought that China and the U. S. on the one hand, while avoiding direct conflict, will deploy their own energy security strategy. On the other hand, at the same time, through cooperation will solve the problems of threats to energy security.