While China's interest in securing energy resources has garnered much attention in the media lately, its approach to energy security is nothing new, at least in regard to its Central Asian neighbors. The People's Republic of China (PRC) has always had several interests in common with these Central Asian neighbors, especially dealing with migration, trade, and ideological extremism. Still, its focus on developing stronger energy relationships with these neighbors has gathered momentum over the last two decades, especially as the economy has liberalized and emphasis has shifted away from self-reliance to ensuring affordable and stable supply of energy to meet China's burgeoning demand. In particular, since 1997 China has given increasingly focused support to its national oil companies to develop strong linkages with their counterparts in Kazakhstan, bolstered by elevated government-to-government ties between the two countries. Chinese expansion into Kazakh oil fields reflects not only the PRC's interest in maintaining energy security but also its desire to strengthen relations between China's western regions and Kazakhstan as well as to tighten the economic linkages between China's Xinjiang region and its own coast. In so doing, the PRC is attempting to strike a delicate balance between coordination with Russia on strategic and security issues and competing with Putin's new Russia for influence in Central Asia.
