People's Republic of China's energy security in Central Asia example

The People's Republic of China began to experience major transformations both nationally and internationally in 1978 after the economic initiatives of Deng Xiaoping. In this process, where the acceleration of economic development is gained, China is trying to improve its smart power by taking bigger steps in the global conjuncture and to sustain the momentum gained in its economic development with a moderate expansionary policy. Economic development created the need for energy, and China became an energy importing country in 1993. As China is an energy importing country, energy security became a very important area and important policies to ensure security of supply began to be monitored. In order to ensure the safe supply of energy, China strives to increase its smart power and ensure security of supply by establishing relations with different countries in economic, cultural, political and energy fields. Central Asian countries, which are close to China in geographical terms and have rich hydrocarbon reserves, are suitable partners for both energy import and economic relations. As a result of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the lack of a dialogue partner country in the foreign policies of these countries, it is possible to say that China is very appetite to fill this gap. The purpose of this study is to explain China's efforts to ensure energy security through its smart power policy to sustain its rise through Central Asian countries. In this context, energy-rich Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan oil-natural gas lines will be taken as the basis for explaining the energy security. The study consists of three parts. In the first chapter; since it is a conceptual study, it will be tried to explain the concepts of energy security, smart power and public diplomacy, one of the elements of soft power. In the second part; China's economic development process, economic relations with Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to be evaluated and the energy security diplomacy of China's energy security perception will be analyzed. In this context, China's Belt and Road Initiative and Shanghai Cooperation Organization are worth explaining. Finally, in the third chapter; in addition to the economic relations of countries, reserves of hydrocarbons of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and Oil and gas pipelines to China will be addressed.