China's quiet shift to net oil importer status in 1993 marked a forced departure from the Communist Party's three-decade experiment in self-sufficiency and opened the possibility that China could, some day, be as vulnerable as other industrial nations to unexpected events affecting global oil markets. Being a net oil-importer should, logically, bring China's interests closer to those of the oil-dependent West. In 1990, China abstained when the US mobilised an international coalition to drive Iraqi troops from Kuwait. A future crisis, after China has become a major importer, might elicit a more supportive stance. But the change to Chinese interests and orientations also poses challenges for the West: in effect, the industrialised oil-consuming countries of the US, Europe and North-east Asia must convince an ambitious, energy-hungry China that secure supply for all requires a cooperative foreign policy. So far, unfortunately, China is taking a different tack.
