On the morning of April 8, 2013, the “China-U.S. Energy Security Cooperation” workshop was held at the School of International Studies, Peking University. The workshop was sponsored by the Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Peking University under the suggestion of the US Embassy in China. Officials from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in China met with Chinese researchers of energy policy and energy to discuss energy security and cooperation. In recent years, energy production in the U.S. is changing the international energy supply and marketing pattern. How the U.S. and China should respond to their respective concerns in this field, in order to enhance energy as one of the areas of mutual trust.
The workshop was presided over by Zha Daojiong, an academic member of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Peking University and a professor at School of International Studies, Peking University. Mr. Robert Hormats, the Under Secretary of State responsible for economic growth, energy and environment, led the delegation to attend the workshop. The Chinese participants were from the School of International Studies, Peking University, College of Engineering, Peking University, Energy Research Institute of National Development and Reform Commission, School of International Studies, Renmin University of China, China University of Petroleum and China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. More than 20 senior postgraduates and doctoral students from the School of International Studies, Peking University were invited to participate in the workshop.
At the workshop, Mr. Hormats was invited to speak first. He pointed out that demand for energy such as oil and gas is growing rapidly in emerging Asian countries (such as China and India). The Pacific Rim and the Indian Ocean area will replace the Pan-Atlantic Ocean area as the mainstay of global oil and gas trade. In recent years, the energy production of the U.S. has undergone a revolutionary transformation, and the energy export capacity of the U.S. (especially natural gas) is improving. The U.S. will actively develop its oil and gas resources, increase production, and actively develop new energy to reduce its dependence on imported energy. In addition, the U.S. is interested in engaging in the commercial development of unconventional energy such as China’s shale gas to achieve “four wins”: China can reduce air and other environmental pollution by expanding natural gas consumption, hence benefiting global environmental protection efforts; China will reduce its dependence on imported energy through a sharp increase in energy production, such as shale gas, from which the U.S. has more commercial interests; the increased capacity of China and the U.S. to produce their own energy is conducive to enhancing mutual trust in energy and even wider fields, and reducing security concerns caused by maritime transport routes; both China’s new administration and the Obama administration’s second term have the opportunity to make a good start to their interactions through energy cooperation. Mr. Hormats stressed that in the field of energy security, the differences between China and the U.S. are far smaller than those on issues such as intellectual property and network security; one of the real challenges is how to accelerate technological exchanges between China and the U.S. in areas such as shale gas by further reforming China’s management mechanism of energy and foreign investment.
Professor Zha Daojiong noted in his speech that the basic framework of American energy policy towards China since the 1980s has been to help improve China’s energy self-supply capacity. This basic policy orientation has made positive contributions to the development of China’s energy industry (oil, natural gas, coal-bed methane, renewable energy). Nowadays, the U.S. is moving toward energy independence, and China has to become more dependent on imported energy. Therefore, there are many different voices in China’s energy diplomacy towards the future of the U.S. As a part of promoting strategic mutual trust between China and the U.S., it will be beneficial if the U.S. expands its basic orientation of energy diplomacy toward China to including China as one of the export objects of American energy.In fact, Sinopec, Exxon Mobil, Saudi Aramco and Fujian’s “Refining-chemical Integration” project put into operation in 2007, have provided a model for the joint venture and cooperation between China and the U.S. Expanding the trade in energy products between China and the U.S. from coal to liquefied natural gas and oil will help dispel China’s worry about future energy diplomacy of the U.S. Judging from China’s urgent need to improve air quality in coastal energy consumption centers, foreign investment, including the U.S., should be put on the intergovernmental agenda in the integration of liquefied natural gas supply and marketing in China. Of course, China’s rapid adjustment of participation of American investment and other foreign investment in unconventional energy such as shale gas is also conducive to China’s dual vision of energy production growth and environmental protection progress.
In the following discussion, experts on the scene pointed out that in order to achieve more comprehensive cooperation between China and the U.S. in the energy field, both sides need to adjust the domestic and foreign policies involving energy development. Both sides must overcome their own domestic obstruction. In view of this reality, one of the contributions that researchers in international relations and energy policy can make is a comprehensive review of the interaction between the governments and enterprises of the two countries in the energy field, highlighting the interests of both sides at the energy industry and commercial level. Such a kind of knowledge will help to persuade groups who pay attention to the problems but lack knowledge in the two countries to walk out the simple thinking of choosing “cooperation” or “confrontation” in respective fields of energy production, which is conducive to exploring ways to shift energy security issues from mutual worry to mutual support.
At the end of the workshop, both sides said that although the two-hour workshop was short, it was a useful attempt to expand China-U.S. energy dialogue from government, technology and business to academic research groups. Both sides were looking forward to more dialogue activities in politics, industry and learning in the future.
Link:http://www.cuppe.pku.edu.cn/jlhd/dwjl/230233.htm
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