• Research
  • Strategic Europe
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Europe logoCarnegie lettermark logo
EUUkraine
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Wang Tao"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Carnegie China"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie China",
  "programAffiliation": "",
  "programs": [],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [],
  "topics": [
    "Security"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media
Carnegie China

Energy Security in the South China Sea

Although the South China Sea offers the potential to alleviate China's dependence on foreign oil, maintaining peace in the region is more critical to China’s energy security than the exploitation of the resources in the region.

Link Copied
By Wang Tao
Published on Jul 8, 2012

Source: CCTV

Speaking to CCTV, Carnegie’s Wang Tao discussed the regional sensitivities surrounding the South China Sea and the area's potential to alleviate China’s dependence on foreign oil imports. He also outlined some of the serious regional and environmental concerns raised by the South China Sea.

Emphasizing the environmental risks of deep sea oil exploration in the South China Sea and the strategic importance of the region to China, Wang said that the priority for Beijing should be developing sophisticated oil extraction technologies to produce oil as safely as possible. He added that since this area is critical to the transport of China’s global oil imports, maintaining peace in the South China Sea is more important to China’s oil supply and energy security than the exploitation of the resources in the region.

About the Author

Wang Tao

Former Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy

Wang Tao was a nonresident scholar in the Energy and Climate Program based at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy.

    Recent Work

  • Article
    Xi’s Global Leadership Ambitions in the Trump Era

      Wang Tao

  • In The Media
    How the Paris Conference Is Driving China’s Gas and Oil Reforms

      Wang Tao, Yang Yifang

Wang Tao
Former Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy
Wang Tao
Security

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Europe

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    Taking the Pulse: Does the EU Have a Germany Problem?

    Are Germany’s economic, industrial, and political struggles becoming a liability for the EU’s ability to rise to the geopolitical moment?

      • Rym Momtaz

      Rym Momtaz, ed.

  • Pituffik base greenland US Denmark
    Article
    Europe’s Overseas Countries and Territories as Geopolitical Assets

    European states control several Overseas Countries and Territories around the world that carry strategic, economic, and environmental weight. As great powers challenge the rules-based order, defending them is a geopolitical imperative for Europe.

      Marc Pierini

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    Why Russia Could Escalate Hybrid Warfare Against Europe

    Mounting economic strain and battlefield losses will not necessarily make the Kremlin less dangerous. They could instead push Moscow toward a more aggressive hybrid campaign designed to test NATO’s Eastern flank, exploit allied hesitation, and fracture European resolve.

      Maksym Beznosiuk

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    Taking the Pulse: Enough with the Annual NATO Summits, Already?

    Over the past ten years, NATO has held almost as many summits as it did during the entirety of the Cold War. Are they still useful, or is it time to stop holding annual meetings?

      • Rym Momtaz

      Rym Momtaz, ed.

  • Romania Bulgaria Turkey Black Sea naval
    Commentary
    How NATO Became Anchored in the Black Sea

    As Russia's war on Ukraine drags on, NATO is expanding its footprint in the Black Sea. Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria are upgrading their fleets and deepening trilateral cooperation.

      Dimitar Bechev

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Europe
Carnegie Europe logo, white
Rue du Congrès, 151000 Brussels, Belgium
  • Research
  • Strategic Europe
  • About
  • Experts
  • Projects
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Gender Equality Plan
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Europe
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.