发展的机遇:中国、中亚和《能源宪章条约》

An Opportunity for Progress:China,Central Asia,and the Energy Charter Treaty

随着中国—中亚天然气管道的建设和开通,中国正在深化与中亚国家之间的能源合作关系。在国际法上,《能源宪章条约》为能源合作提供了独特的多边法律框架。但是,与中亚国家不同,中国尚未成为《能源宪章条约》的缔约方。本文分析了中亚国家油气资源运输协议的现状,接着对《能源宪章条约》及其在中亚国家的适用进行简要的概述。除了对中国加入《能源宪章条约》的成本效益进行分析以外,本文还分析了中亚的缔约国可能会因此获得的利益。最后,作者的结论是加入《能源宪章条约》符合中国的最佳利益,因为加入该条约是利大于弊的。

With the construction and operation of Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline,China is deepening the energy cooperation with Central Asia countries.The Energy Charter Treaty(ECT)provides a multilateral framework for energy cooperation that is unique under international law.Unlike all the Central Asia Countries,China is not yet a party to ECT.This Article reviews the current status of hydrocarbon resource transport agreements in Central Asia,and proceeds to provide a brief overview of the ECT and the application of the ECT in Central Asia.This Article moves on to explore the likely benefits that Central Asian Contracting Parties would obtain,as well as the likely costs and benefits for China if it joins the ECT.Finally,the authors argue that acceding to the ECT is in China’s best interest because the costs to China in acceding to the ECT would be outweighed by the benefits.