ABSTRACT
This chapter tests the implications of the argument using both quantitative and qualitative data. It includes four mini-cases: Kazakhstan, Canada, Uzbekistan, and Denmark, which vary maximally from the universe of countries. The results from the mini-cases generally support the results from the main cases. Here, with the countries of high strategic importance to China – Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan – the state has a strong interest to become involved in order to protect national security interests. In states of little strategic importance, Canada and Denmark, state interest is less visible. Here, the companies are more clearly involved to pursue commercial interests and profit alone. The mini-case results thus indicate that the results from the main cases are, in fact, generalizable. When including the mini-cases in the analysis, the conclusions found are true for China’s energy policy across regions – that is, they can say something about Chinese foreign policy in general.
