Sat, May 28, 2005 page3

• China's `energy diplomacy' hurts Taiwan, experts say

  • CNA
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  Several academics said yesterday that China's recent "energy diplomacy" has greatly narrowed Taiwan's diplomatic room for maneuver and harmed Taipei's diplomatic relations with its allies in Central and South America.

  The academics were speaking in a seminar on China's energy strategic deployment and Taiwan's energy security.

  Associate Professor Hsiang Chun (向駿) of the National Defense University said that China has played the role of a "world factory" in recent years, causing its demand for energy to skyrocket.

  Beijing's "energy diplomacy" serves three purposes, Hsiang said. It helps China meet its own energy needs, but also aims at sharing risk with other oil-producing countries and upgrading its stature in the international community.

  Hsiang said that China's expanding energy purchases in Central and South America will have a negative impact on Taiwan's relations with its diplomatic allies. Out of 26 countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, 13 are in Central and South America.

  Lai I-chung (賴怡忠), director of foreign policy studies at the Taiwan ThinkTank, noted that China uses its vast market to persuade other countries to make political concessions.

  China dangles the carrot of its vast market before other countries and asks them to support China's position on Taiwan, and to block proposals related to Taiwan in international meetings, Lai said.

  China's recent inroads into Central and South America will also squeeze Taiwan's maneuvering space, he said.

  In addition, Taiwan depends heavily on energy imports, with more than 70 percent of its petroleum coming from the Middle East and 40 percent of its coal from China. If China bans its exports and applies pressure to Australia and Indonesia to divert coal to China from Taiwan, there will be major crisis in Taiwan's energy supply of energy, he said.

  Professor Tsai Tung-chieh (蔡東杰) of National Chung Hsing University said that last year, China unveiled a mid and long-term development plan through 2020, as a means to diversify its energy supplies and strategic reserves.
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