The study of China''s Energy Security & Energy Diplomacy in 21st Century

• Main Authors: Chao-Chun Chien, 簡肇均
• Other Authors: 蔡東杰
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/23482917116596445604

碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 國際政治研究所 === 97 === Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between Chinese domestic economic security and energy diplomacy. Due to China’s Communist political system, it is difficult to gauge the meaning of China’s modernization from statistical data. However, if we trace China’s economic development from the point of view of energy security, we can directly find structural problems and dilemmas in politics, economics and society. For a sovereign state, energy (oil、natural gas & coal) is not only a vital strategic resource, it is also the driving force of economic development. In order to satisfy China’s domestic energy demand, state energy diplomacy derived for energy import becomes ever more significant. Particularly in the world of globalization, how to ensure China’s energy security from disruption has become a key influential factor of international relations. Chinese energy demand has increased rapidly since the 1990s and since 1993, China has become a net importer of petroleum. Until today (2009), China consumes more than 7 million barrels of oil per day, and Chinese external dependency has reached 47％. Owing to increasing domestic demand for oil, China’s dependency has forced the government to confront their potential risks concerning energy supply. Compared with western countries, China only holds 20 days of strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), which poses as a difficulty for managing the impact of rising oil price on industry. Therefore, before China reaches its target amount of SPR, it will continue to escalate the intensity of its energy diplomacy. If an effective cooperative and dialogue mechanism cannot be constructed internationally, the future of international energy market would surely entail heightened pressure of competition between China and the U.S. and increased chances of tension.