 The energy challenges of Japan and the world and Asia go far beyond just China and just Japan. Today I'd like to talk first about the energy challenges, four of them. First of all, geology, geography, growth and geopolitics, and how in their inter-relationship they create some rather counter-intuitive responses that are going to have major long-term implications for the broader world. First of all, as we know in terms of the geology, the energy resources of the world are certainly finite. There are many ways they can be satisfied, but finite. In terms of energy, Asia is particularly short. 2% of world oil reserves and only 8% of world gas. The geography is also difficult. As you can see, the reserves most importantly are in the Middle East. The growth, the demand is in Northeast Asia as we know, beginning with China, Japan and Korea. And so the imports have to come long distances. Japan for example, 85% dependent on the Persian Gulf for its oil imports. Korea 87, India 62 and China has been diversifying more toward Africa also as we will hear. But still 42% of all of China's oil coming from the Middle East. Growth has intensified this problem. We know very well about the rapid growth of the East Asian nations and also their adaptability since the layman's shocks. They've recovered rapidly, more rapidly than other parts of the world, which has intensified the energy problems. Oil demand in general has been growing faster in Asia despite tremendous improvements in energy efficiency that it has in many parts of the world. And as a consequence, oil imports have also steadily risen both through the sea lanes and also increasingly overland, with China being the most important. Finally, geopolitically, Asia in the world of course stands in an unusual position. Increasingly dependent in the Middle East in a world where the United States position has traditionally been stronger. Also the multinational, the so-called Seven Sisters and others have been crucial in the energy world. I'd like to look now at the responses that are possible for Asia. Of course they're the sea lanes that I'll talk more about, but I do want to dwell on the concept of energy continentalism. The major producers in dark and in light, the large consumers beginning with China, are right next to each other geographically as you can see. Major political changes, the collapse of the Soviet Union, China's modernizations, the Indian reforms in particular have, those critical junctures have created a much more interdependent Asia whose importance I think is just beginning to understood. This is a geopolitical as well as an economic phenomenon. And the growth process will deepen the interdependencies. 18 million barrels of oil roughly a day from Hormuz to Northeast Asia. That will probably rise to around 30 million. We've heard about shale gas, certainly that will be important, but the levels of demand are rising also. Conversely from the Middle East itself, from land rovers to land cruisers as I put it, the dependence on Europe has been declining, dependence on Asia in the Middle East for autos, for textiles, for electronics has been rising. This has major geopolitical implications all over through the sea lanes. There are various dynamics in the sea lanes, particularly deep in the Indian Ocean, I would stress, where the Blue Water Navy capabilities of the United States are particularly important, Diego, Garcia and so on. What is the response for China? One increasing possibility is continentalism. China's energy demand is rising rapidly. President Xi, the last 10 days, as you know, has been in four Central Asian countries in Russia. His second trip to Russia within this year. Pipelines are increasingly important. The ASPO for oil has been completed. As you can see from this map, the western reaches of China are considerably closer to the straits of Hormuz than they are to Beijing. Energy demand is moving further to the west. The alternative one, as Professor Lampton suggested, could well be nuclear. The other is deeper geopolitically related ties, be they natural gas, be they oil, further to the west and a deepening interdependence with the Middle East. So where is that continentalism likely to lead and how fast will it emerge? Thank you.