The Spratly Islands Dispute Order-Building on China’s terms.docVIP

The Spratly Islands Dispute: Order-Building on China’s terms? Dosch, J. (2011). The Spratly Islands Dispute: Order-Building on China’s terms?. Harvard International Review, 16. 南沙群岛争端：秩序建构是否中国说了算？ As the result of China’s participation in world trade and its consequent growing demand for overseas energy and raw materials, the South China Sea has become an increasingly important resource for Beijing. China’s demand for imported energy resources is predicted to rise to 500 million tons of oil imports and over 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas by 2020. For comparison, in 2009 China imported 204 million tons of oil and just about 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas.? Because of its rapidly increasing energy consumption, China will be more actively involved in oil and gas exploration in its adjacent sea areas and in securing the oil supply routes at sea. Other claimants, of course, value this resource for the same reasons and, just as in China’s case, have seen nationalism and geostrategic interests enter their policy equations. Therefore, the South China Sea has been host to territorial disputes that are among the most contentious and volatile in the Asia-Pacific theater. Amid the intense competitions for its vast natural resources, the South China Sea’s role in regional security and stability has never been more important. 作为中国参与世界贸易的结果，随之而来的是对海外能源和原材料的需求增长，南中国海已经成为中国越来越重要的能源地。据预测，到2020年，中国对进口资源的需求中，石油的进口量将上升到5亿吨，天然气将超过1000亿立方米。相比之下，2009年中国石油的进口量仅2.04亿吨，天然气仅50亿立方米。由于能源消耗的急速增长，中国将更积极参与到对相邻海域的石油和燃气的开发中，以及保证海上输油管道的安全。当然，其他国家也因为同样的原因看重能源，仅以中国为例，已经认识到要将国际主义和地缘政治利益纳入他们的政策方程式中。所以，在亚太平洋地区最具争议和善变的议题中，南中国海已经成为领土争端的主体。在争夺大量自然资源的激烈竞争中，没有比南中国海在区域安全和稳定中的角色更重要的了。 At the heart of these disputes lie the Spratly Islands–a collection of coral reefs, atolls, islets, islands, and sand bars scattered over a sea zone of some 410,000 square kilometers. This area is claimed, in whole or in part, by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines. Although the total area o