securing energy resources among top foreign policy concerns for China and India

Information released on October 11, 2006 presenting the results of a July 2006 study by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA) found that securing energy resources is among the top foreign policy concerns for China and India. Many Chinese, 54 percent, questioned in the survey believed that a disruption in the energy supply would be a “critical threat to China’s vital interests in the next ten years.” When asked about India’s vital interests, 43 percent of Indians saw the disruption of energy supplies as a critical threat. Even though a majority of Indians did not view a disruption as a critical threat, majorities in both countries believed that securing an energy supply was a vital foreign policy concern.

In both China and India, most newly built power plants use coal to produce energy. CCGA, in conjunction with the Japan Economic Foundation and Pacific Council on International Policy, released an additional report in October 2006 suggesting that this will be a major factor in the estimated doubling of carbon dioxide emissions in China by 2025. The study predicts precipitous growth in the electricity demand in India and China, with China’s demand tripling by 2025 and India’s demand increasing to 150 percent of its current demand by the same year.

The growing use of automobiles in China will also make a contribution to China’s CO2 output. The CCGA report believes that the current 30 million automobiles driven in China will increase to 120 to 150 million by 2025.

China’s concern with securing an energy supply has caused them to overlook the human rights policies of their energy partners. China imports considerable amounts of oil from Sudan, despite the East African nation facing condemnation from numerous governments and international human rights organizations. China and India also have energy agreements involving oil and natural gas with Iran, Myanmar, and Russia, nations with questionable credentials regarding political liberties and human rights.

The study argued that it is the duty of Japan and the United States to assist these countries with the technology to produce clean and renewable energy. Another major concern addressed in the recommendations was future conflict over energy resources, which leads to “tolerating problem regimes and risking of military conflict.” In order to avoid this situation, the study suggested that “the United States, Japan, China, and India, together with Canada, South Korea, Russia, and other leading energy producers and consumers in the region, set up a regional energy forum designed to help them work multilaterally toward this end.”
 

Updated November 3 , 2006