(Wall Street Journal) Michael Danby - The Chinese people will tolerate the communists' monopoly of power only so long as their living standards keep rising. The weak link is China's inadequate energy sources. China is short of energy, and its dependence on imports is growing. China can buy all the oil it wants on the international market, but the communist leaders don't want China's prosperity - and their own hold on power - to be dependent on a free market they don't trust. They want control and certainty. They see the way to get these things is through deals with selected oil-exporting countries, preferably ones which are at political odds with Western powers, so that their need for friends and protectors is greater. China now gets 15% of its oil from Iran, and is Iran's second-biggest customer after Japan. China's greed for secure oil imports and its willingness to deal with outlaw regimes to get these imports is causing a breakdown in the world's only system for disciplining countries that endanger peace. The writer is a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade of the Australian Parliament.
2010-02-15 08:32:30Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive