Analysis Of The Impact Of Energy On The South China Sea, Our Future Energy Security

The South China Sea is a “treasure bowl” which boasts abundant oil, mineral, andfishery resources and harbors more deepwater oil reserves than the East China Seaand the Yellow Sea. Its richness in natural resources has attracted high attention fromneighboring countries, which for their own interests, have intensified exploration andutility of this area and heated up the exploitation of the South China Sea. It is also animportant maritime transport channel that connects Asia-Pacific region and majoreconomies in the world. As a part of China’s maritime territory and under itssovereignty, the South China Sea serves as the material basis for China’s sustainabledevelopment and a promising drive for its economic growth. In a nutshell, richresources, vital international transport channel, and the maritime territory areprerequisite for China’s economic development, and China’s further growth is closelyconnected with the South China Sea.This thesis, first of all, realizes that there is still a huge potential for energyexploration in the South China Sea after an overview on the energy reserves and thecurrent exploration situation of this area. It then analyzes the production, explorationand consumption of oil and gas in five countries bordering to the South China Sea,finding that these countries are relying more and more on the oil and gas resources ofthe sea. Meanwhile, due to political, economic and technological restrictions, energysecurity in China is faced with severe challenges. This paper provides acomprehensive discussion on the major challenges that China’s energy securityencounters during the process of development, and on the problem that China can notuse the rich resources in the sea, even if they belong to China, because of the activitiesthat violate China’s state sovereignty and economic security conduced by thebordering countries. In this sense, the energy resources in the South China Sea have agreat influence on China’s future energy security. In the end of this paper, possibleresponses and suggestions to the South China Sea issue are provided on the basis of acomprehensive analysis, previous experiences and lessons, and the current situation.