The Energy Security in Central Eurasia: the Geopolitical Implications to China's Energy Strategy (original) (raw)

Central Asia and China's Energy Security

The China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly, 2006

The China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly is a Central Asia-Caucasus & Silk Road Studies Program publication. The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program is a joint transatlantic independent and externally funded research and policy center. The Joint Center has offices in Washington and Uppsala, and is affiliated with the Paul H.

Russia, China, and the Energy-Security Politics of the Caspian Sea Region After the Cold War

Mediterranean Quarterly, 2009

Increasingly, Central Asia, and specifically the Caspian Sea Basin (CSB), is becoming a crowded place, as government officials and oil interests from European Union countries, the United States, Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, and elsewhere (including increasingly energy-thirsty India) vie for partnerships with the energy-rich former Soviet republics. Russia lays special claim to what it sees as its “near abroad” (notably, the Caucasus and Central Asia), and its leaders strive to limit US influence over the energy resources of the CSB. China, a global economic power still in ascension, not only works with Russia to counter US influence in the area but also seeks to develop and import more of the region's energy resources to fuel its economic expansion. Both China and Russia aim to curb rising Islamic influence in the region. This essay examines the interests and policies in the CSB of Russia and China, respectively, since the end of the Cold War and their bilateral relationship. Wh...

Eurasian Energy Security: A General Perspective

It could be said that energy sector, energy production and energy distribution gained unprecedented importance for all us in the 21th century. This century has also demonstrated that the energy security is a precondition for economic stability and an indivisible part of a state’s overall security. Especially growing demand on energy resources day by day means that the future energy security of Eurasia very much depends on diversification of sources of energy supplies and enhancing security of the energy network. This paper proposes that the major potential for Eurasian energy security in Afghanistan and its immediate neighbors lies in the revival of trade and transportation links like Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and more distant Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. While counting the name of these countries we cannot underestimate Russia's weight and importance in Eurasia and thus the paper also purposes the relations between the European Union and Russia by taking into account the recent energy wars especially started after the invasion of Crimea by Russia. It is because the paper offers a general perspective to Eurasian energy security, we embark on our study with touching upon the radical Islam and drug trafficking in Afghanistan and Central Asian countries and try to put forward why Eurasian energy security is dependent on eradicating these security problems. By doing this, this paper will also assess the risks associated with utilization of Central Asia and the Caucasus as a logistical backyard to the war on terror in Afghanistan and lack of a longer term strategy to confront internal problems of each of the region’s countries. At the end, before we put forward our general energy approach to the Eurasian energy security, we will touch upon the significance of Turkey for the Eurasian energy security and point out why this region does matter for Turkey.

Beyond a new "Great Game": how energy resources are impacting Sino-Russian relations in Central Asia

Utilizing theories of energy security alongside Blackwill & Harris' groundbreaking work in geoeconomics, this paper finds the "new Great Game" metaphor used to describe Sino-Russian relations theoretically insufficient to handle the nuances behind the energy relations of both nations in Central Asia. By examining CNPC's 2005 bid for Petrokazakhstan, as well as the completion of the Central Asia - China Oil & Gas Pipelines, the paper argues the metaphor underestimates the potential sources of the very conflict it seeks to explain. Any analysis of Chinese and Russian energy security must dedicate attention to the issues of Xinjiang and future geological challenges respectively.

Sino-Russian Relations: The Impact of Central Asian Energy Resources

Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies, 2015

The following paper strives to (1) present the reader with the results of my preceding book on the subject (Eder 2014) and to (2) review the trends that had been predicted therein. It provides a concise analysis of the Sino-Russian relationship’s history, an account of post-Soviet regional energy projects, and an analysis and interpretation of the mainland Chinese discourse on the impact of the Central Asian energy issue on this relationship. The issue has been broadly discussed as a possible source of friction since the global financial and economic crisis. Chinese authors predicted that a great deal of co-ordination and compromise would be needed because of Russian sensitivities but conveyed confidence that their country’s ‘inevitable’ expansion of crucial energy relations would be manageable. The book thus predicted a successful handling of competing interests in the short term but still foresaw a challenge to the ‘strategic partnership’ through the gradually shifting power balan...

New strategies for an old rivalry? China – Russia relations in Central Asia after the energy boom

Pacific Review, 2017

ABSTRACT China and Russia both have interests in bordering Central Asia. China’s thirst forenergy has seen its footprint expand rapidly in the region relative to that of Russia,Central Asia’s historical hegemon. With the two powerful neighbors’ history of competition and conflict, the shift in relative influence between them risks a resurgence of bilateral rivalry. Referencing the scholarly literature on strategic rivalry, this article examines how energy relations have helped shaped the trajectory of China-Russian relations in Central Asia, particularly after the shock that came with thecollapse of oil and gas prices in 2008– 2009.

The Role of Energy Security in the Case of Kazakhstan – People’s Republic of China Relations

Scientific Journal of the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, 2024

This study examines China's implementation of energy diplomacy to ensure smooth access to raw materials while maintaining its market dominance and production capacity within the context of the Belt and Road Initiative. Energy security emerges as a critical factor for maintaining China’s global influence, with Kazakhstan's energy resources and strategic location drawing significant Chinese attention. The paper analyzes China’s energy security strategies, particularly in the context of its relations with Kazakhstan, from logistical, national security, geopolitical, physical security, market, and sustainability perspectives. The hypothesis posits that energy security must be supported not only through economic and cultural relations but also through political and military engagements. The study explores three models proposed by Chinese scholar Fon Tintin and references Richard Weitz’s strategies for China’s energy security, applying these models to the Kazakhstan case study. Utilizing qualitative research methods and a literature review, this analysis covers developments from 1991 to 2021. Keywords and expressions: Energy Security, Energy Diplomacy, Kazakhstan, China.

New Energy Equation in Eurasia: Russia-China Energy Cooperation

International Symposium on Eurasian Energy Issues, 2015

The natural gas agreement concluded between Russian and Chinese energy corporations in May 2014 brought a dimension to the energy rivalry in Eurasia. Particularly the tension between Russia and the West sets up a fertile ground for a recalibration of energy equation in the region. Russia, as one of the world's most formidable energy suppliers, has been concluding new agreements on energy alliances regarding the strain caused by the Ukrainian crisis. Russian-Chinese dialogue on energy cooperation have been uplifted to an agreement just after the crisis which opened new paths for further cooperation that is discussed to be deepened to a strategic partnership. This paper examines the influence of the Russian-Western tension on the Russian-Chinese partnership within the framework of the regional enery rivalry components due to political conflict and strain. The paper also inquiries how could the Russian-Chinese energy cooperation influence the Eurasian energy equation and the Western-Chinese relations.

The geopolitics of Central Asian energy

Limiting institutions?, 2018

This chapter assesses the rising geostrategic and geoeconomic importance of Central Asian oil and natural gas for China and the United States-the most transparent source of Sino-American conflict in this region. The initial rationale for Chinese engagement in Central Asia, despite the emergence of China as a net oil-importing nation in 1993, was not driven by the search for an alternative and secure source of oil and natural gas. 1 Rather, Chinese policy reflected a set of domestic and foreign policy concerns, particularly the desire to address unresolved border disputes with its many neighbours, to dampen ethnic unrest in the Xinjiang autonomous province, to foster regional economic cooperation, to open new markets for Chinese arms, and to reduce the incidence of drug trafficking and illegal migration. 2 American interest in the region was closely linked to the Clinton strategy of engagement and enlargement, particularly the desire to facilitate the transition to democracy and the market economy in the states spawned by the dissolution of the Soviet Union. But as the gap between the demand and domestic supply of oil widened in both countries, the oil-producing states of Central Asia took on a new significance. Both the Chinese and American governments have sought privileged access to this region for their national oil firms. 3 Sino-American competition in this region began in earnest in 1994. 4 China seemed to be better positioned initially, owing to successive annual summit meetings with the regional oil-producing states-Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. These meetings resulted in the creation of the 'Shanghai Five' in 1996, a grouping that was subsequently enlarged with the addition of Uzbekistan in 1999 and formalised in 2001 with the creation of the SCO. 5 The Shanghai process generated cooperation agreements in various issue areas, ranging from border disputes to economic cooperation to anti-terrorism measures. In this way, China established a firm diplomatic presence in the region.