China's thirst for energy subject of Feb. 8 conference

Updated 10:00 AM January 30, 2006

China's thirst for energy subject of Feb. 8 conference

By Dan Shine
William Davidson Institute

The influence of China's relentless global pursuit of energy resources on international energy markets, the environment and future relations with the United States will be the subject of a Feb. 8 conference sponsored by the William Davidson Institute (WDI) and the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR).

"The Energy Future: China and the U.S." will bring together top experts in academia, business and government service to address China's domestic energy constraints and dilemmas; its strategy to gain energy security; the implications for America; and the actions the U.S. should take in response.

"The stakes on whether and how the U.S. and China are able to cooperate in the energy sphere are potentially very high," says WDI Distinguished Fellow Kenneth Lieberthal, who served as senior director for Asia on the National Security Council under President Clinton. "Outcomes could influence in a major way the functioning of the international energy markets, especially during a potential supply disruption. Environmental outcomes are also very much at stake.

"And strategically, energy could either become a bridge for U.S.-China cooperation or contribute very seriously to future tensions and distrust, with important spillover consequences for other aspects of the relationship," he adds.

China is dependent on coal for about 70 percent of its energy. Oil imports have risen rapidly in recent years and now account for 40 percent of the country's total oil use. That figure will grow to 70 percent in the next 15 years, and China also is short of natural gas and other non-coal energy sources.

Mikkal Herberg, director of the Asian Energy Security Program at NBR, will chair the first panel, "China's Global Search for Energy Security." Mark Levine, director of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division—a research and analysis division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory—and Steven W. Lewis, research fellow in Asian politics and economics at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, professor of the practice in humanities and director of the Asian Studies Program at Rice University, will be panelists.

Chas. W. Freeman, Jr., who served as principal interpreter on President Nixon's path-breaking 1972 trip to China and later served as assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm, will deliver the keynote address, "Wealth, Power, Oil, and Gas: Chinese Affluence and the Global Energy Balance."

The second panel, "How the U.S. Should Respond?," will be chaired by Lieberthal, who also is a professor of political science at U-M and the William Davidson Professor of Business Administration at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. Speakers on the second panel will include Jeffrey Bader, who spent 27 years in the Department of State, National Security Council, and office of the United States Trade Representative; and Ed Morse, executive advisor at Hess Energy Trading Co., LLC, who served in the Carter and Reagan administrations.

Lieberthal says the timing of the conference is right because of the growing sense of malaise over how to respond to the rapidly growing impact of China on the international arena. China has become a key player in the global manufacturing system; holds a major share of American debt instruments; is rapidly expanding its influence in Asia; and is acquiring greater military capabilities.

China's future is uncertain, however, with enormous domestic pressure for ongoing rapid economic development bumping up against very serious natural resource constraints, environmental problems, and social and institutional strains, Lieberthal says.

The conference will begin at 10 a.m. in Room D1273 of Davidson Hall. The event is free and open to the public, but space for the luncheon in Phelps Lounge is limited. Anyone interested in attending should call (734) 936-0041 or e-mail royk@umich.edu.

China's thirst for energy subject of Feb. 8 conference

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