GLOBALIZATION AND FUTURE RESOURCE DEMANDS; THE RISE OF CHINA

Globalization is tying the economies of the world together and creating vulnerabilities of interdependence that directly affect the national security of the United States; this is particularly true regarding China. China's economy has been growing at between 7 and 9 percent annually since the 1980s and has doubled every decade. This economic growth is essential to maintain social stability and the power of the Chinese Communist Party. China produces many minerals and is the leading importer of many strategically important minerals to the United States (US), antimony, tungsten, rare earths etc. However, China is not autarkic and must import large quantities of copper, alumina, iron, nickel and petroleum. Unlike the US, China has an effective minerals policy that not only secures access to mineral resources, but uses minerals policy to promote other Chinese foreign policy goals. Two tenets of this policy are of note: China seeks to control the source of the mineral resources instead of depending upon the market as does the US; China's minerals policy is "morals free," meaning that it deals with states with human rights or WMD issues shunned or sanctioned by the US. Thus, China is at odds with the US over policy towards, for example, Iran, the Sudan and Zimbabwe. This presentation addresses the China's resource policy and its implications for US national security interests.