“China’s fast-growing economy has created a deep thirst for oil that has pushed it to do business with some of the most corrupt and dangerous regimes on Earth, several of them in Africa. [...]
“Beijing’s guiding philosophy of noninterference with the affairs of other nations, and its growing financial involvement in the developing world, are having an overwhelmingly negative effect on stability and human rights. Setting aside China’s stonewalling on efforts to crack down on nuclear threats posed by Iran and North Korea, its reluctance to impose tough sanctions on Sudan (where it has significant oil interests) is contributing to the ongoing murder, rape and displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in the Darfur region.[...]
“Chinese banks haven’t signed on to the Equator Principles, a voluntary set of environmental and human rights guidelines adopted by 80% of the world’s commercial lenders. This makes it easier for Chinese banks to do business with corrupt government officials. “
Meanwhile, in the Persian Gulf:
“the importance of energy cannot be underestimated when examining Sino-Arab relations. China is the world’s second-biggest energy consumer and third-biggest importer. Its oil consumption surpassed Japan’s in 2003 and now stands at 6.5 million barrels per day, compared to 20 million barrels per day for the US. [...]
“Today, 58 percent of China’s oil imports come from the Middle East, mostly from the Gulf. China has adopted a strategy of geographical diversification by investing in foreign oil and gas fields in more than 20 countries including Venezuela, Nigeria and Australia. But diversification away from the Middle East has its limits. Two-thirds of proven oil reserves are located in the region, mostly in the Persian Gulf. Similarly, many of the oil reserves in non-Middle Eastern countries are rapidly being depleted. The I.E.A. predicts that Chinese oil imports from the Middle East will rise to at least 70 percent by 2015, underpinning that the future of the Chinese economy is inextricably tied to the Middle East. [...]
“China has the closest relations with Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer. China is now Saudi Arabia’s fourth-largest importer and fifth-largest exporter. Saudi Arabia is China’s biggest oil supplier, accounting for almost 17 percent of China’s oil imports. Trade between the two has grown an average of 41 percent a year since 1999, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
“Saudi Arabia’s oil exports to China increased to some 500,000 barrels per day in 2005, up from 440,000 barrels in 2004. This is set to increase further after Saudi oil giant Aramco agreed to provide the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) with 1 million bpd by 2010. Abdallah Jum’ah, president of Aramco, described China and Saudi Arabia “as among the most important energy relationships on the planet.”
“In April of this year King Abdullah became the first Saudi king to visit China. This was Abdullah’s first trip outside the Middle East since ascending to the throne in 2005, potentially signaling a new strategic alignment. During the three day visit, King Abdullah told Chinese legislative chief Wu Bangguo that Saudi Arabia considered China a “truly friendly country” and hoped that their relations would become “better and better.”
“The summit saw the signing of five agreements, including a landmark pact for expanding cooperation in oil, natural gas and minerals. Saudi Arabia also granted China a loan to improve infrastructure in China’s oil-rich Xinjiang region and offered Chinese companies investment opportunities in Saudi’s enormous infrastructure sector. “
We’ve been beating on this drum for a while. Further reading:
U.S., China Are on Collision Course Over Oil
Fueling the dragon: China’s race into the oil market
Chinese Quest for Crude Increases Focus on Africa
As Set America Free’s Anne Korin said to UPI:
“‘We don’t want to see it escalate to a resource conflict’ [...] The Set America Free Coalition says the best solution is to help China help itself [..] allowing Beijing to be steered away from its oil dependence.
“‘In the same way (developing countries) skipped wires by going right to wireless, they could leapfrog oil and go right to alternative energy sources’”
And the U.S. should lead by example.