Water and Regional Security in Asia: Challenges for China

The management of water risks poses many challenges to China’s conception of harmonious regionalism in Asia and to the region-wide development fundamental to the unfolding of a Pacific Century. China faces many hard choices as its own water, food security and energy goals often conflict, but as an upstream state sharing river resources with most of its neighbors, China’s water usage and hydropower development also have important consequences for regional security and foreign policy. River management is poorly institutionalized in Asia, however, and China has preferred to address water issues bilaterally. Using Ulrich Beck’s concept of social risk, this paper looks at the domestic sources of China’s approach to managing water risks and their foreign policy and security consequences. The paper highlights the emergence of security dilemmas in China’s approach to water risk management and their impact on regional security and China’s foreign relations with Asian neighbors.