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[insert impact mod] 1nc – ! – energy Energy security is key to CCP stability

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[insert impact mod] 1nc – ! – energy Energy security is key to CCP stability Zhang 16 (Chi Zhang, 2016, “The Domestic Dynamics Of China's Energy Diplomacy,” Series on Contemporary China, vol. 38, https://books.google.com/books?id=-VgGCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=china+energy+ccp+stability&source=bl&ots=SKA9raM1wg&sig=ACfU3U10wUCUd4NAwObJpf1Y9QjjwkeQYA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjegOqc8MbjAhVLOKwKHbsHB2UQ6AEwCHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=china%20energy%20ccp%20stability&f=false) // ank In general, the national interests behind China's energy diplomacy can be viewed as maintaining the CCP government's political legiti¬macy which mainly consists of three elements — economic develop¬ment, social stability and national unification. Energy diplomacy contributes to all the three areas. Unlike the first and the second generations of the CCP leadership whose political legitimacy largely came from their revolutionary accomplishments, the later generations do not have such credentials. Therefore, the CCP leadership since the 1990s has relied on the three critical resources to sustain the party's political legitimacy. As to eco-nomic development, the Chinese government must ensure the con¬tinuous distribution of economic benefits that more or less satisfies the growing material demand of the Chinese people. In accordance, socio-economic development remains the CCP's highest priority and the work focus of the government. Moreover, economic growth is the foundation of the develop¬ment of China's comprehensive national power (zonjjhe jjuoli) including economic capability, political clout, military capacity, sci¬ence and technology strength, etc., because the building of other powers needs significant economic resources and support. Notably, since the beginning of China's economic reforms, Beijing's foreign policy and diplomatic work has consistently been required to serve the country's economic development and modernisation drive. Specifically, the Chinese government has been making efforts in realising a relatively favourable external environment for China's domestic development. Beijing's energy diplomacy is part of this grand diplomatic strategy. Apart from economic development, domestic stability and national unification are also critical for the CCP government's political legiti-macy. Domestic stability is always closely linked with economic devel-opment. For instance, if the country encounters serious economic problems such as stagnation with continuous inflation or widening income disparity, these problems could transform into social and political problems like growing unemployment, grievance towards the government and society, or even social disorder, which could chal¬lenge the Chinese government's rule over the country. In this sense, economic development supports social stability Also, national unity is an essential pillar to reinforce the CCP's legitimacy. Hong Kong and Macao have been returned to China. These two events have definitely promoted the party's legitimacy among the Chinese people. Now the most intractable problem is the Taiwan issue, which is much more complicated. Beijing always insists on its sovereignty over Taiwan and the goal to reunify the island with mainland China. In addition, the growing separatist activities and extremist violence in some parts of China like Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region have brought more trouble to the Chinese government, directly jeopardising social stability and potentially threatening national unity. How to address these problems is related to the CCP's credibility among the Chinese people. The leadership believe that the maintenance and acceleration of economic development in those unstable and rela¬tively underdeveloped areas are critical for domestic stability and national unity. The rest of this section consists of two sub-sections. The first part explains how energy diplomacy improves China's energy secu¬rity; the second part shows the contribution of energy diplomacy to the improvement of China's external relations and Beijing's multi¬lateral diplomacy. The progress made in these two areas is beneficial for economic development, social stability and national unity of China. 5.2.1 Improving China's energy security 'As an important aspect of economic security, energy security has a direct bearing on national security and social stability'. China's Energy Conditions and Policies (the official White Paper) In the recent years, energy security has become an urgent challenge in front of the Chinese leadership. Here, energy security can be simply defined as the availability and affordability of energy resources, par-ticularly oil and natural gas. Availability refers to the continuous and sufficient energy supply; and affordability can be understood as the stable and acceptable energy prices. Beijing's energy security concern has been identified in two fields - - the domestic aspect as well as the international aspect; in other words, the country faces both domestic and external risks to its energy security. The domestic challenge is expected to be tackled through the reform adjustment and restructur¬ing of China's domestic energy system; while how to deal with the external challenges is related to the country's international relations and foreign policy including energy diplomacy. Notably, energy security is related to the Chinese government's political legitimacy. The availability and affordability of energy resources is a necessity for China's economic development, social sta-bility and national unity. If the energy supply is insufficient, it could undermine a country's industrial production and economic growth, affect the people's livelihood, increase unemployment, harm national defence, etc. Hence, whether China's energy supply can be guaran¬teed determines whether the country can maintain its fast social and economic development, satisfy the people's demand for a better life, and maintain social stability and national unity. However, China's energy security faces several external uncertain¬ties or threats, posing (potential) risks to the availability and afforda¬bility of the country's energy import. During the 1970s and the 1980s when China was self-sufficient in energy supply, its domestic oil production and consumption was planned by the government and had no linkage with the world market; the Chinese economy was largely sheltered from the outside world, and the disruption of the international oil market did not affect China much. But now China has become increasingly dependent on overseas energy supplies; thus, the Chinese economy is increasingly influenced by external factors. There are five major factors affecting China's energy security, namely the instability in some energy exporting regions, the fluctuation of the international oil price, the energy import transportation risk, the inter¬national containment against China, and the threat from the United States. The rest of this sub-section discusses each of these factors in turn, before explaining the contribution of energy diplomacy to China's energy security. Download 0.83 Mb. Share with your friends: