Peace Engineering in Practice: China’s Energy Diplomacy Strategy and Its Global Implications
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Congratulations on the choice of subject matter, although in my opinion, the following elements need to be clarified:
1. The research methodology needs to be expanded.
2. The lack of a clearly formulated research hypothesis.
3. No indication of the application value of the research, both in the theoretical and practical parts
Author Response
Point 1: The research methodology needs to be expanded.
Response 1: We thank the reviewer for this useful suggestion. We created a separate section named “methodology”, in which we described our research approach, as requested.
Point 2: The lack of a clearly formulated research hypothesis.
Response 2: We thank the reviewer for pointing out this issue. As requested, we formulate a research hypothesis in the revised manuscript. Specifically, our hypothesis is based on China's energy diplomacy strategy which in our view represents an interesting case study for studying the emerging concept of "peace engineering". In turn, it also provides a framework to address current and future challenges in achieving SDGs. Although the concept of peace engineering has not yet entered China’s policy discourse, its energy exports and investments indirectly influence conflict mediation and post-conflict reconstruction. Local societal development and peace exerts a positive effect on addressing some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to a certain extent, including eradicating poverty (SDG1), developing clean energy (SDG7), stimulating economic development (SDG8), building sustainable cities and communities (SDG11), etc. In turn, addressing the SDGs provides an entry point for peace engineering based on conflict resolution, diplomacy, and peacebuilding. We clarified this hypothesis in the introduction and methodology sections.
Point 3: No indication of the application value of the research, both in the theoretical and practical parts
Response 3: We thank the reviewer for highlighting this shortcoming. In the revised MS, we addressed the application value of the research both in the introduction and conclusion. Following the recently defined concept of “peace engineering”, we focus on the specific case of China's energy imports and foreign investment, adjustments to energy infrastructure, and renewable energy development. We argue that this overall strategy may play a positive role in attaining multiple SDGs. In this respect, the significance of the study is: (1) China’s energy diplomacy was analyzed as an example of peace engineering, by highlighting its role in addressing the SDGs; (2) an analysis of the empirical case in China reveals how peace engineering can be acted upon in practical situations, which can help policy makers in developing future policies to optimize the use of resources; (3) it highlights the importance of peace engineering and its potential for practical use in developing policies.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear authors,
thank you very much for this interesting analysis of sustainable energy issues from the point of view of peace engineering.
I hope that the following comments and suggestions will help you to improve your manuscript:
1. Please, give more information about the countires participating in "Belt and Road" initiative.
2. Figure 1: the size of the two cycles must reflect the growth of energy consumption between 2011 and 2021. In this way, the reader will be capable of understanding if the reduction of self-sufficeincy percentage of coal-based consumption is related to the closure of domestic coal mines and power plants.
3. Figure 2: Please, increase the size of the graph and fonts and explain why the sum of countires percentage sometimes exceeds the percentage of the continent (e.g. South America 8% // Brazil 7,9% + Colombia 2%).
4. Line 224: explain the meaning of energy vectors.
5. Figure 3: Please, change the colour palette. Is China importing natural gas from Australia by pipelines?
6. Lines 233 and 235: different percentages are given for the economic value of overseas projects. Please, clarify.
7. Is the term "overseas" the appropriate when discussing for projects of chinese companies in other asian countries? (I mean not across the sea)
8. Figure 4: Please, explain the reduction of projects value after 2016 and add title and units in Y-axis.
9. Figure 5: add title and units in Y-axis.
10. Figure 6: Is it the same data that have already been presented in Figure 1? If so, please consdider to present a different set of data or just make in the text a reference to Figure 1 and avoid to add the same data with a different graph type.
Line 359: Please, use a certain year in the period 1952 - 2005 to compair the added values of primamry, secondary and tertiary sectors with those of 2020.
11. Lines 370-374. After 2012, which is the second year this comparision refers to?
12. Please, do not use RMB currency.
13. Figure 7: Please, increase the height of the graph and size of legend and add title and units in Y-axis.
14: Line 440: close the brackets after "company)".
15. Figure 8: Add title and units in Y-axis.
16. Discussion and conclusions: Considering the energy transition as a main pillar of the UN strategy to achieve the SDGs and at the same time introducing the concept of peace engineering in practice, it is unfair to focus on the development of RES and ignore the contribution of coal, especially in countries such as China, which has huge remaining exploitable reserves. Consider, as a fictional scenario, what would happen if China did not have domestic coal deposits. How would this help its energy independence, support the economic growth that has occurred in recent decades and, ultimately, peace in the wider Asian region? In this context, I believe that your article would be more complete if it commented in various paragraphs on the role of domestic coal and its prospects until 2060 that China has set as a milestone for decarbonization. If you choose to make these additions, your article is welcome to the special issue of the journal entitled ‘Sustainable Mining and Processing of Mineral Resources’. If not, the article is acceptable after minor revisions for the journal.
Author Response
Point 1. Please, give more information about the countires participating in "Belt and Road" initiative.
Response 1: We thank the reviewer for this advice. In the revised MS, we added the requested information in the second Paragraph of the introduction.
Point 2. Figure 1: the size of the two cycles must reflect the growth of energy consumption between 2011 and 2021. In this way, the reader will be capable of understanding if the reduction of self-sufficeincy percentage of coal-based consumption is related to the closure of domestic coal mines and power plants.
Response 2: We thank the reviewer for this valuable suggestion. The size of the two cycles was adjusted based on the total energy consumption. We merged this Figure with Figure 6 (the corresponding text was also shifted to Figure 6). Instead, we added consumption vs. production of fuel as Figure 1. We also added a related discussion in the text (3. China’s Energy Diplomacy Strategy and Peace Engineering).
Point 3. Figure 2: Please, increase the size of the graph and fonts and explain why the sum of countires percentage sometimes exceeds the percentage of the continent (e.g. South America 8% // Brazil 7,9% + Colombia 2%).
Response 3. The sum of countries may not be equal because of the independent rounding algorithm. As requested, we have updated Figure 2 in the revised MS.
Point 4. Line 224: explain the meaning of energy vectors.
Response 4: For simplicity, we replaced “energy vectors” with “energy sources”.
Point 5. Figure 3: Please, change the colour palette. Is China importing natural gas from Australia by pipelines?
Response 5: We thank the reviewer for this suggestion. To avoid confusion, we replaced Figure 3 with a histogram, where the pipeline and liquefied natural gas are colored differently.
Point 6. Lines 233 and 235: different percentages are given for the economic value of overseas projects. Please, clarify.
Response 6: We updated the data to the year 2022 and clarified the percentage accordingly.
Point 7. Is the term "overseas" the appropriate when discussing for projects of chinese companies in other asian countries? (I mean not across the sea)
Response 7: Following the reviewer’s suggestion, we replaced “overseas” with “foreign” in the revised MS.
Point 8. Figure 4: Please, explain the reduction of projects value after 2016 and add title and units in Y-axis.
Response 8: We updated Figure 4 to the year 2022. The reduction of projects after 2016 may be due to the domestic situation and overseas regulatory environment. After 2019, the reduction of projects most likely originated from the COVID global pandemic. We added this discussion in “3.1.2 Diversification of China’s Energy Global Investment”
Point 9. Figure 5: add title and units in Y-axis.
Response 9: Figure 5 has been updated accordingly.
Point 10. Figure 6: Is it the same data that have already been presented in Figure 1? If so, please consdider to present a different set of data or just make in the text a reference to Figure 1 and avoid to add the same data with a different graph type. Line 359: Please, use a certain year in the period 1952 - 2005 to compair the added values of primamry, secondary and tertiary sectors with those of 2020.
Response 10: Following the reviewer’s suggestion, we merged Figure 1 and Figure 6 into the new Figure 6. We now present the energy consumption/production trend as the new Figure 1. We added values of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors in 1952 and 2005 respectively to compare with 2020.
Point 11. Lines 370-374. After 2012, which is the second year this comparision refers to?
Response 11: We thank the reviewer for requesting this clarification. It refers to 2020, we revised the text accordingly.
Point 12. Please, do not use RMB currency.
Response 12: We replaced the RMB with US dollars both in the text and in the new Figure 8
Point 13. Figure 7: Please, increase the height of the graph and size of legend and add title and units in Y-axis.
Response 13: We updated Figure 7 according to the reviewer’s suggestion.
Point 14: Line 440: close the brackets after "company)".
Response 14: We added the bracket, as suggested.
Point 15. Figure 8: Add title and units in Y-axis.
Response 15: We updated Figure 8 accordingly
Point 16. Discussion and conclusions: Considering the energy transition as a main pillar of the UN strategy to achieve the SDGs and at the same time introducing the concept of peace engineering in practice, it is unfair to focus on the development of RES and ignore the contribution of coal, especially in countries such as China, which has huge remaining exploitable reserves. Consider, as a fictional scenario, what would happen if China did not have domestic coal deposits. How would this help its energy independence, support the economic growth that has occurred in recent decades and, ultimately, peace in the wider Asian region? In this context, I believe that your article would be more complete if it commented in various paragraphs on the role of domestic coal and its prospects until 2060 that China has set as a milestone for decarbonization. If you choose to make these additions, your article is welcome to the special issue of the journal entitled ‘Sustainable Mining and Processing of Mineral Resources’. If not, the article is acceptable after minor revisions for the journal.
Response 15: We added the related discussion on coal in Figure 1, Figure 6, Section 3.2.2, Figure 7
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
