{"id":439140,"date":"2026-04-13T03:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T10:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=439140"},"modified":"2026-04-13T03:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T10:16:11","slug":"coal-isnt-dying-in-china-its-becoming-beijings-ultimate-sovereign-weapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=439140","title":{"rendered":"Coal Isn\u2019t Dying in China\u2014It\u2019s Becoming Beijing\u2019s Ultimate Sovereign Weapon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"687\" height=\"1024\" data-attachment-id=\"439142\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=439142\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Coal-as-Chinas-Weapon-of-Sovereign-Power.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"784,1168\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0- Coal as China\u2019s Weapon of Sovereign Power\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Coal-as-Chinas-Weapon-of-Sovereign-Power.jpg?fit=687%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Coal-as-Chinas-Weapon-of-Sovereign-Power.jpg?resize=687%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-439142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Coal-as-Chinas-Weapon-of-Sovereign-Power.jpg?resize=687%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 687w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Coal-as-Chinas-Weapon-of-Sovereign-Power.jpg?resize=201%2C300&amp;ssl=1 201w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Coal-as-Chinas-Weapon-of-Sovereign-Power.jpg?resize=768%2C1144&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Coal-as-Chinas-Weapon-of-Sovereign-Power.jpg?resize=640%2C953&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Coal-as-Chinas-Weapon-of-Sovereign-Power.jpg?w=784&amp;ssl=1 784w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 687px) 100vw, 687px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Coal&#8217;s strategic role in China is that of a deliberate, sovereign anchor\u2014abundant domestic &#8220;ballast stone&#8221; (\u5b9a\u6d77\u795e\u9488) that delivers energy independence, grid reliability, industrial competitiveness, and military resilience while enabling the world&#8217;s fastest renewables buildout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beijing does not treat coal as a relic to phase out on a fixed timeline; it optimizes it as flexible infrastructure in a hybrid &#8220;all-of-the-above&#8221; system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This realist approach prioritizes national power and self-sufficiency over rapid absolute emissions cuts, as codified in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026\u20132030, finalized March 2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China imports ~70\u201373% of its oil (much via chokepoints like the Strait of Malacca or Hormuz) and significant LNG. Coal\u2014100% domestic, rail-linked from mega-basins in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Xinjiang\u2014cannot be blockaded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China operates ~1,243\u20131,271 GW of coal power\u2014over half the world&#8217;s total\u2014with a young fleet (average age ~12\u201314 years).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Coal powers steel, cement, polysilicon (for solar\/EV exports), and chemicals at low, stable costs\u2014underpinning manufacturing dominance and export leverage. Coal-to-chemicals already consumes 8\u201310%+ of output and is expanding rapidly (e.g., dozens of coal-to-olefins projects). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This keeps energy-intensive industries competitive while &#8220;green&#8221; supply chains (often coal-powered upstream) flood global markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CTL (primarily indirect Fischer-Tropsch) converts coal into synthetic diesel, jet fuel, and naphtha\u2014clean-burning, fungible products immune to sea-lane disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It addresses ~70\u201373% oil import dependence and supports the PLA Navy (world&#8217;s largest by hulls), aviation, and logistics in conflict scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Expansions continue (e.g., major facilities in Hami, Ningxia, Ordos); the sector consumes hundreds of millions of tonnes of coal annually and is poised for further growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beijing accepts higher well-to-wheel CO\u2082 (~1.5\u20132x conventional oil) because the strategic payoff\u2014autonomy under sanctions or blockade\u2014outweighs economics. Historical precedents (wartime Germany, apartheid South Africa) inform this quiet buildup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Empirically, the strategy works in power-projection terms: manufacturing booms, living standards rise, grid stability holds despite massive clean additions, and geopolitical resilience is enhanced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Coal is not &#8220;dying&#8221;\u2014it is being repurposed as sovereign optionality in great-power competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Western de-coal timelines sometimes create fragility; China&#8217;s approach demonstrates engineering realism: abundance and control first, decarbonization intensity second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This is the &#8220;Excalibur&#8221; framing\u2014coal as the tool that legitimizes and sustains national power.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Beijing\u2019s Excalibur: Coal as China\u2019s Weapon of Sovereign Power&#8221; is a recent opinion piece by Dr. Joseph Fournier, published on his Substack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The article portrays coal not as a relic of the past, but as a deliberate strategic asset\u2014China\u2019s equivalent of King Arthur\u2019s Excalibur or the Chinese mythological \u201c\u5b9a\u6d77\u795e\u9488\u201d (Dinghai Shenzen, the \u201csea-calming needle\u201d or ballast stone of the Monkey King). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fournier argues that while Western nations aggressively phase out coal under climate policies, Beijing is scaling it up by roughly 25% in key sectors, embedding it deeply into its industrial base, power grid, steelmaking, chemicals, and military resilience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This creates sovereign independence from vulnerable foreign energy imports (oil\/gas via chokepoints like the Malacca Strait) and gives China leverage in global energy dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">_____________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Beijing\u2019s Excalibur: Coal as China\u2019s Weapon of Sovereign Power<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"482\" data-attachment-id=\"439177\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=439177\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-160.png?fit=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1536,1024\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-160.png?fit=723%2C482&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-160.png?resize=723%2C482&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-439177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-160.png?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-160.png?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-160.png?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-160.png?resize=640%2C427&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-160.png?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-160.png?w=1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-160.png?w=1446&amp;ssl=1 1446w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>At the exact moment Western economies rush to eliminate coal, China is deliberately scaling output by ~25%, embedding it deeper into power, steel, chemicals, and national resilience.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@josephfournier\">Joseph Fournier, Ph.D.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The People\u2019s Republic of China is building a blue-water navy at a pace the world has not witnessed since the United States mobilized its shipyards during the Second World War. <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/josephfournier.substack.com\/p\/beijings-excalibur-coal-as-chinas\">Dr. Josepf Fournier`s Substack<\/a> has the story.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The scale is not a matter of speculation; it is a matter of public record. In March 2025, the Center for Strategic and International Studies published a landmark report revealing that the\u00a0<strong>China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 a single state-owned enterprise \u2014 produced 14 million gross tonnes of vessels in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That figure is more than the entire U.S. shipbuilding industry has produced in the eight decades since the end of the war, combined [21]. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\u00a0<strong>People\u2019s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)<\/strong>\u00a0is already the world\u2019s largest navy by ship count, with over 370 ships and submarines in active service, and is projected to field a fleet of 425 vessels by 2030 \u2014 against the U.S. Navy\u2019s roughly 300 [21].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These numbers command attention, and they should. But fixating on warship hulls alone is a strategic error. The real foundation of China\u2019s military posture is not steel on the water \u2014 it is the resource that makes the steel, powers the shipyards, and fuels the entire industrial edifice that converts raw materials into sovereign power. That resource is\u00a0<strong>coal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chinese policymakers do not speak of coal in the language of energy transition or environmental compromise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They call it\u00a0<em>\u5b9a\u6d77\u795e\u9488<\/em>\u00a0(<em>d\u00ecng h\u01cei sh\u00e9n zh\u0113n<\/em>) \u2014 a term that translates literally as \u201cthe divine needle that calms the sea.\u201d The reference is not obscure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is drawn from one of the most celebrated texts in Chinese literature: the 16th-century novel\u00a0<em>Journey to the West<\/em>\u00a0(\u897f\u6e38\u8bb0), in which the mythical hero Sun Wukong \u2014 the Monkey King \u2014 wields a magical iron pillar that commands the ocean itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u5b9a\u6d77\u795e\u9488 is not a metaphor for stability. It is a\u00a0<em>weapon of sovereign power<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 an instrument that confers mastery over the elements and bends the natural world to the will of the one who holds it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The parallel to Excalibur in Western mythology is deliberate: just as Arthur\u2019s sword conferred sovereign legitimacy and martial supremacy upon the king who drew it from the stone, the ballast stone confers upon the PRC the sovereign capacity to anchor its industrial and military power independently of foreign supply chains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Beijing calls coal the \u5b9a\u6d77\u795e\u9488, it is declaring coal a weapon of state \u2014 one that stabilizes the entire edifice of national power [6,12].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Read the full story <a href=\"https:\/\/josephfournier.substack.com\/p\/beijings-excalibur-coal-as-chinas\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coal&#8217;s strategic role in China is that of a deliberate, sovereign anchor\u2014abundant domestic &#8220;ballast stone&#8221; (\u5b9a\u6d77\u795e\u9488) that delivers energy independence, grid reliability, industrial competitiveness, and military resilience while enabling the world&#8217;s fastest renewables buildout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":439142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691842242,691818341,691842241,691819635,691842244,691826479,691842243],"class_list":["post-439140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-15th-five-year-plan","tag-china","tag-china-state-shipbuilding-corporation-cssc","tag-coal","tag-fischer-tropsch-ctl-fuels","tag-heavy-industry","tag-recoverable-coal-reserves","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Coal-as-Chinas-Weapon-of-Sovereign-Power.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1QeU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":246013,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=246013","url_meta":{"origin":439140,"position":0},"title":"China&#8217;s Climate Pledges At Odds with ramping up coal plant: Report","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/02\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\"That is the case with the rest of the world, but China's need for energy security has led to growth in wind, solar and coal all at the same time.\"","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-94.png?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-94.png?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-94.png?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-94.png?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-94.png?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":276627,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=276627","url_meta":{"origin":439140,"position":1},"title":"China continues coal spree despite climate\u00a0goals","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/31\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"China is approving new coal power projects at the equivalent of two plants every week, a rate energy watchdogs say is unsustainable if the country hopes to achieve its energy targets.","rel":"","context":"In \"China\"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=china"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00climate-jumbo.webp?fit=1024%2C596&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00climate-jumbo.webp?fit=1024%2C596&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00climate-jumbo.webp?fit=1024%2C596&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00climate-jumbo.webp?fit=1024%2C596&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":427459,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427459","url_meta":{"origin":439140,"position":2},"title":"Beijing Boasts Clean Energy Leadership\u2014Fossil Fuels Still Dominate Reality","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/22\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"China has indeed been aggressively promoting its leadership in renewable energy, and the achievements are substantial. In recent years, particularly through 2025 and into early 2026, China has installed record amounts of solar, wind, and other clean energy capacity, outpacing the rest of the world combined in many metrics. 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Before this solemn pledge the CCP had approved a blockbuster 54 gigawatts of coal fired power plants in just two years. Afterwards, to show how committed they were to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Australia\"","block_context":{"text":"Australia","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=australia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-414.png?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-414.png?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-414.png?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-414.png?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-414.png?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":403862,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=403862","url_meta":{"origin":439140,"position":4},"title":"Coal Prices Rebound as China Boosts Imports","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/21\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The prices of key seaborne thermal coal grades rebounded in September from four-year lows in June and July as China ramped up coal imports amid higher summer demand and falling domestic production.","rel":"","context":"In 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