China's peaceful rise

From Free net encyclopedia

China's peaceful rise (Chinese: 中国和平崛起; Pinyin: Zhōnggúo hépíng juéqǐ) is a foreign policy doctrine mentioned increasingly by the People's Republic of China in the early 21st century.

1 Use of the term
2 Main principle
3 See also
4 External links

[edit]

Use of the term

The term was first used in a speech given by the former Vice Principal of the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party, Zheng Bijian, in late 2003 during the Boao Forum for Asia [1]. It was then reiterated by PRC premier Wen Jiabao in an ASEAN meeting as well as his visit to the United States. It appears to be one of the first initiatives by the fourth generation of the leadership of the PRC, headed by Wen and Hu Jintao. In some occasion, the term China's peaceful development (中国和平发展; Zhōnggúo hépíng fàzhǎn) is used instead.

In Zheng's speech he pointed out that in the past, a rise of a new power often resulted in the drastic change of global political structure, and even war (i.e. the hegemonic stability theory in international relations). He believed that this was because these powers "chose the road of aggression and expansion, which will ultimately fail." He said that in today's new world, the PRC should make use of the peaceful environment to continue to develop herself, and in turn help to maintain this peaceful environment.

The content of the policy is also widely seen to reflect a more cosmopolitan and sophisticated outlook on the part of PRC's foreign policy establishment after the leadership transition in 2003.

[edit]

Main principle

The term is used primarily to reassure the nations of East Asia and the United States that the rise of the PRC in military and economic prominence will not be a threat to peace and stability, and that other nations will benefit from the rise of the PRC. Explicit in the doctrine, is the notion that PRC's economic and military development is not a zero-sum game and that the PRC represents less of an economic competitor than economic opportunities.

The doctrine emphasizes the importance of soft power and is based in part on the premise that good relations with its neighbors will enhance rather than diminish the comprehensive national power of the PRC. Part of this doctrine is that the PRC will have an economic policy different from that of Japan during the 1980s and will avoid neo-mercantilism and protectionism, and that nations outside of mainland China will be able to materially benefit from mainland China's economic rise through trade and investment. As such, PRC's participation in the World Trade Organization is part of this doctrine.

In diplomacy, the doctrine emphasizes multilateral cooperation through institutions such as the six power talks concerning North Korea's nuclear program and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It also calls for less assertiveness in border disputes such as the Spratly Islands, Diaoyutai/Senkaku, and the Aksai Chin. PRC's active diplomacy over North Korea, has been widely regarded as a break from previous foreign policy of the PRC which has been widely seen as passive and opportunistic.

In addition, this doctrine seeks to avoid confrontation with the United States and one of the motivations behind the doctrine was the conclusion in the late-1990s that the United States was not a declining power and that for the first part of the 21st century, that no alliance of great powers could constrain U.S. actions. The other motivation behind the doctrine is the realization that trade with the United States has been and will be essential for the economic growth in mainland China. Thus, the PRC seeks to both prevent the United States from becoming an enemy, and also make it impossible for the United States to follow a strategy of containment vis-a-vis the PRC. One consequence of this doctrine is that the PRC has remained neutral over U.S. foreign policy initiatives such as its invasion of Iraq.

This incentive has also interacted with U.S. actions in light of the September 11, 2001 attacks. In contrast with the situation in the late-1990s, voices such as the blue team, which considers the rise of the PRC to be the most serious security threat to the United States, have been considerably muted. In addition, as the United States has been heavily involved in Iraq, stability in East Asia, especially in the areas of North Korea and Taiwan has become attractive to the United States. Furthermore, some have commented that many of the nations of East Asia find the U.S. exclusive focus on terrorism to be annoying, and thus welcome the broader view that the PRC has presented concerning foreign relations.

Many of the ideas of the peaceful rise of the PRC come from the new security concept, which was formulated by thinktanks in the PRC in the mid-1990s.

Taiwan is explicitly excluded from the doctrine as the PRC considers Taiwan a domestic affair. At the same time, as part of its aim of avoiding confrontation with the United States, the PRC has attempted to portray itself as the advocate of peace and stability in the Taiwan straits and the Republic of China (ROC) government under Chen Shui-bian as dangerously destablizing the region. In contrast to practice in the 1990s, it has attempted to gain the support of the United States in restricting what it perceives as Chen's efforts to further Taiwan independence.

[edit]