Saturday, August 3, 2019
Chinese-Middle East foreign policy :: essays research papers
                                             Karl Schroeder                                              Policy Update:                                              China-Persian Gulf      China’s biggest issue in the Middle East is securing the oil and gas that they will need with their continued economic growth. China has attempted to cultivate domestic oil production, but their demand for oil has continued to increase exponentially and it is clear that China will continue to need more and more Middle Eastern oil. China has made a number of big moves to help secure oil in the future. In September of 2004 China signed an agreement with Kazakhstan to establish an oil pipeline worth 3.5 billion dollars. Then in November of 2004 China signed a mega-gas deal with Iran that is worth 100 billion dollars, which could increase by up to another 100 billion. This deal entails the annual export of 10 million tons of Iranian liquefied natural gas for a 25 year period. The deal also gives China’s state oil company participation in projects such as exploration, drilling and pipeline services. The export of liquefied natural gas requires special car go ships and Iran is currently adding to its small fleet with continued expansion in the future. Many thought that China’s pipeline deal with Kazakhstan would user in a new era of Chinese foreign policy and help give China a big economic push, it is clear that this agreement was only the beginning for China’s economic expansion in the world. It is difficult to comprehend or predict the economic, political and strategic importance of this deal. It is clear that this deal was a major blow to Bush’s economic sanctions on Iran. China’s cooperation with Iran has extended to political issues as well. After the natural gas deal China said that they would be unwilling to refer the issue of Iran’s nuclear program to the Security Council. This cooperation has been beneficial for both states, China was able to secure oil and gas for the future, Iran gets political support of a major power. China also began cooperating with Saudi Arabia in the 1990s; in 1999 t hey signed a strategic oil cooperation agreement opening both states to future economic cooperation.      Oil is China’s greatest interest in the Middle East, the Middle East benefits from economically by providing China with oil, but many of the Middle Eastern states also want to purchase arms from China. China has moved more and more into arms sales as they have attempted to modernize their military and utilize their military build up.
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