The Dilemmas of China’s Energy.pdf

55 The Dilemmas of China’s Energy Governance: Recentralization and Regional Cooperation Gaye Christoffersen* Before 2003, Sino-Japanese-Russian energy relations held promise of multilateral cooperation, yet in the last two years, cooperation turned to competition as China and Japan promoted alternative oil pipeline projects to Moscow. The rivalry began with an oil pipeline from Angarsk, shifted to the East China Sea dispute over the Senkakus/Diaoyutai, and threatened to spread into further issues and spiral out of control. The image of Chinese competitive behavior was fueled by the Going-Out Strategy of the Chinese national oil companies—China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec)— collectively referred to as the National Oil Companies (NOCs). The way in which this intense rivalry coexists with ongoing discussions on energy cooperation requires some explanation. Japan offered a set of rules for competition and cooperation. Russia, which had originally spurred this Sino-Japanese rivalry, rethought the impact this would have on Russian long-term objectives for Northeast energy relations, and developed a pipeline project that would satisfy both Tokyo and Beijing. Chinese would eventually offer their own rules. Many pundits have noted the competition for energy resources while few have studied the simultaneous efforts at cooperation. The primary facto