A Hazardous Game – The Strait of Malacca

... put it crudely China is not allowed to buy firms so that it can import high-end technologies to better its domestic production (even if a firm like Unocal accounts for a mere 1% of the US output), nor can land adjacent Central Asia support its growing energy demand fully or Russia be prepared to play on its terms. In effect, China is left with investing in second-tier opportunities and the Malacca Dilemma persists with just a balancing effort trying to minimise rise in dependence. Li & Cheng (2006) see that options are limited as energy demand in Asia is growing at an annual rate of over 3% and already more than a half of world’s ...