Energy Insecurity

By Steven Lewis

Steven W. Lewis is the C.V. Starr Transnational China Fellow and head of the China Studies Program at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. He is currently conducting research on the potential for shale gas in China's localities, and has testified on energy and the South China Sea before the United States Economic Security Review Commission.

As some Asia energy experts have noted, the South China Sea (SCS) is like a thin donut with a very large hole: all of the hydrocarbons in oil and gas form are located along the periphery, while the large hole in the center, which includes the bulk of islands contested by many countries, has few resources itself. The geopolitical context of the South China Sea can thus be seen as a situation in which Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam are claiming part of the hole in order to guarantee the continued ownership of their part of the donut; the United States is trying to guarantee everybody should have free use of the hole; and China is trying to establish control of both the donut and its hole. The real mystery of the South China Sea dispute is understanding why the hole is actually more important to both the U.S. and China than the donut.

That Thin Hydrocarbon Donut

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