‘Common Sense’ Energy Security in China

Abstract

Chapter 5 provides another analysis of common sense energy security practices that cause insecurity, this time in China. The chapter provides some historical context on energy in China and policy-making procedures, and then looks directly at how energy security (nengyuan anquan) has been practised in Chinese energy security policy since 2004. It examines how energy security was constructed in official discourse in the same time period, drawing out key themes. It notes the ways in which these practices interact to create an accepted ‘common sense’ notion of energy security, where self-sufficiency is key to national security and how this leads to a focus on increasing domestic production of coal, oil, and gas. The chapter concludes by showing how these practices produce an energy security paradox.