Spatial pattern of global submarine cable network and identification of strategic pivot and strategic channel

As a kind of large-scale connectivity infrastructure,submarine cables play a vital role in international telecommunication,socio-economic development and national defense security.However,the current understanding about the spatial pattern of global submarine cable network is relatively limited.In this article,we analyze the spatial distribution and connectivity pattern of global submarine cables,and identify their strategic pivots and strategic channels.The main conclusions are as follows:(1)The spatial distribution of global submarine cables is significantly unbalanced,which is characterized by the facts that the distribution of submarine cable lines is similar to that of sea lanes,and the agglomerations of landing stations are distributed unevenly along the coastline.(2)The connectivity pattern of global submarine cable network has a significant scale effect.At the micro,meso and macro scales,the connectivity structure presents chain model,cluster model and hub-and-spoke model,respectively.(3)The distribution of strategic pivots and strategic channels shows a pyramidal hierarchical feature.Singapore ranks highest among all the strategic pivots,while the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Malacca rank highest among the strategic channels.Based on the identification of strategic pivots and channels,six strategic regions have been divided,which face various network security risks and need special attention and vigilance.

The Belt and Road Initiatives and China＇s International Energy Cooperation： Progress, Mechanisms, and Recommendations

China＇s international energy cooperation and energy security are important parts of The Belt and Road initiatives. China and the countries along the Belt and Road continue to promote cooperation, actively use the existing bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms to promote the regional and inter-regional energy cooperation. Countries along the Belt and Road are rich in oil and gas resources; their demand on the diversification of export meet with the diversification demand on imports of consumption countries; and their oil refining and chemical technology as well as construction capacity is weak, which provides a lot of new opportunities in cooperation for Chinese enterprises. However, the energy cooperation of Chinese enterprises are also facing some challenges in the complex environment of energy cooperation, the interference of big powers, non-traditional security threats, and energy policy factors. Finally, the paper puts forward the strategic thinking of China＇s international energy cooperation under the new situation.