Jiemian YANG, Chairman of SIIS Council of Academic Affairs
Talking Points at the Workshop on Cooperative Security 2.0 in Asia-Pacific co-organized by the SIIS and Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia
Shanghai, November 9, 2013
It has already been a year since the CCP’s 18th Party Congress convened. It took about four months from November 2012 through to March 2013 for the new leadership to complete the generational transition both in the CCP and government. As far as China’s diplomatic strategy and foreign policy are concerned, there are more continuities than changes. However, as both internal and external conditions are undergoing fast and sometimes fundamental changes, some noteworthy new thinking and features are taking shape.
I. New Strategic Thinking
1.1. Starting from an enhanced comprehensive national strength and elevated international position, the new leadership is attaching greater importance to China’s global strategy and foreign policy. The new leadership has repeatedly called for stronger top-level designing and medium to long-term strategic planning for China's diplomatic work. As soon as the CCP 18th Congress was concluded, the CPC Political Bureau held a collective study session on China’s foreign relations in January 2013. On this and other occasions, Mr. Xi Jinping sent out a clear message that China's new leadership is committed to reform and opening-up, the path of peaceful development and the strategy of win-win cooperation with the outside world while resolutely upholding China's core national interests. In his major speeches on China’s foreign relations during his trips to Russia, Africa, the United States, G-20, APEC and Southeast Asian countries, Mr. Xi Jinping further outlined China’s strategic thinking and concepts.
1.2. The new leadership has firmly adhered to its overall strategic goals by stressing strategic concentration. The new leadership has defined China’s strategic goals as follows: They are to build up more favorable external environments for its continued Reform and Opening-up, preserve the nation’s sovereignty, security and development interests, and to promote peace, development and win-win cooperation. Although there are many pressing issues in China’s external relations, the new Chinese leadership stays on the trajectory of thinking comprehensively as a major country in the world with a broader, more far-sighted vision and higher sense of responsibilities to the international community, especially to the neighboring and developing countries.
1.3. The new leadership has readjusted its strategic layouts by stressing both bilateral and thematic affairs. Bilateral relations are the basis of diplomacy and thematic interactions are the new growth points. Generally speaking, thematic issues are more related to global and regional governance, on which China is still on the learning curve. For quite some time to come, China will focus onto the norm-setting, rule-making and institution-building on such thematic issues as financial security, energy security, cyber security and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
1.4. The new leadership tries to theorize and conceptualize its global strategy and foreign policy. It has put forward the new concepts of Chinese Dream, Community of Common Interests and Destinies, New Model of Major Country Relations, balanced approach of upholding justice and seeking for interests and others. It is worth elaborating the balanced approach. Recently, the new leadership highlighted the concepts of friendship, sincerity, benefit and inclusiveness in China’s relations with neighboring countries as well as those related to the region.
II. New Features of China’s Foreign Policy
2.1. China tries to broaden and deepen its major country relations by calling for new model of major country relations (NMMCR). China places great emphasis on, but is not limited to its relations with the United States. In promoting the Sino-U.S. NMMCR, China stresses on non-conflict and non-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation. China’s current focus of NMMCR is on the Sino-U.S. relations. Yet it aims at improving relations with others such as the traditional powers, emerging powers and regional powers with differentiated emphases. For instances, the Sino-Russian relations focus on strategic support each other. The Sino-E.U. relations stress on economic and financial matters. The intra-BRICS relations give priority to enhancing group strength and influence. Besides, China tries to strengthen its relations with such regional powers (the middle powers) as South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Canada, Mexico and Argentine.
2.2. China advances new neighborhood relations by comprehensive planning and pragmatic interchanges while upholding principles. The new leadership convened the conference on the diplomatic work with neighboring countries on October 24th and 25th, 2013. At the Conference President Xi Jinping stressed that China needs to work hard to advance the diplomacy with neighboring countries, strive to win a sound surrounding environment for China's development, and enable neighboring countries to benefit more from China' development for the purpose of common development, such as regional connectivity, and strengthening or creating new monetary and financial facilities.
2.3. The new leadership has shown its flexibilities and adaptabilities. In handling with the Sino-U.S. differences over economic policy and cyber security, China has made the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone as a new point of convergence and stressed the common responsibilities to set norms and rules of cyber security not only between the two countries but also for the whole world. In coping with the maritime disputes between China and some Southeast Asian countries, China has energized its summit diplomacy, joint work on the Code of Conducts and sharing with the developmental benefits such as regional connectivity. In meeting the hotspot challenges, China has worked with the parties concerned to defuse the explosiveness. China promotes the denuclearization and resumption of the Six-Party Talks on North Korean nuclear issue. China also prepares for the possible consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014.
2.4. The new leadership calls for and practices according to the bottom line thinking. To have bottom line thinking means that China would work for the best but prepare for the worst. In practice, China has made it clear in handling the maritime disputes with both the Philippines and Japan that while firmly committed to peaceful development, and that China will not forsake its legitimate interests or compromise its core national interests. China will not dodge disputes or problems as there may be. Rather, China will endeavor to properly handle the differences and problems with relevant countries, while working to promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields to expand common interests and maintain good relations with neighboring countries and peace and stability in the region as a whole. On November 7, 2013 the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin attend a trilateral meeting in Seoul with South Korean and Japanese counterparts. This is another sign that China wants to break the stalemate of Sino-Japanese relations. However, the Chinese good-will needs to be matched by the Japanese in the similar manner.
III. Concluding Remarks
The second year of the Chinese Leadership will see the transition from strategy-making to strategy-realizing. Once the overall strategy and general decision are set, “The devil is in the details”. To work out the concrete policies and measures and put them into operation are equally important. The Leadership has to show to its own people and the outside world alike that their strategy and policy works while tackling with the issues, left over by history, arising presently and expected in the future. The topic of this workshop, cooperative Security 2.0 in Asia-Pacific, fits rightly into China’s new strategic thinking and policy planning. We are scholars who do not directly evolve with the actual diplomatic functions. But our ideas do matter and our hardworking will pay off eventually.
Thank you very much for your attention!
source：