China's new conception of what constitutes national security, shaped during the post-Cold War period, will continue to produce positive influence on international peace and security.
A security concept refers to a nation's evaluation and understanding of its external and internal security environments.
It has long acted as the guideline for the strategy and behavior of one country towards other countries.
Unlike the traditional concept, which was to mainly prevent rivals' military aggression by military means, the new national security concept must be adapted to the changed international environment.
Since the end of the Cold War, China has undergone enormous changes in its internal and external security environment.
First, the collapse of the former Soviet Union led to the breakup of the global bipolar model.
As a result, the possibility for world-wide wars between powers has become slimmer, and regional wars triggered off by ethnic, religious, border, and resources disputes have become more likely.
Second, the number of traditional military confrontations has decreased, but non-traditional factors that threaten national and international security have been on the rise.
The September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States fully exposed the vulnerability of individual nations to non-traditional factors.
Third, the further advancement of the world's political multi-polarization and economic globalization makes all countries more interdependent.
While providing historic opportunities for more reasonable resources distribution, economic globalization also poses new challenges to national security.
To conform to the changing international situation, China has made a timely adjustment to its national security conception.
China maintains that a universally-accepted new security model should be set up to replace the Cold War mentality and bloc politics.
To lay a political foundation and provide a prerequisite for global and regional security, China proposes countries should establish relations with each other on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
In addition, it is China's viewpoint that all countries should strengthen mutual economic cooperation, open markets to each other, eliminate inequality in economic and trade exchanges, and narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, to improve global and regional security.
China also advocates that countries should enhance mutual understanding and trust through dialogue and cooperation, and make a commitment to solve all disputes in peaceful ways.
At the same time, China holds that security cooperation between any two states should not be targeted at any third state, and that acts causing damages to others should be avoided.
However, the international security environment has not been positive since the Cold War ended. Hegemonism and power politics still prevail.
To pursue peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and create a peaceful international and regional environment for its modernization drive, China has taken a series of initiatives to promote security cooperation in the region since the early 1990s.
The country has explicitly announced that China's basic strategic principle is to settle international disputes in a peaceful manner.
At the first ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) annual meeting in 1994, for example, China laid its emphasis upon the importance of establishing friendly relations, solving disputes peacefully, curbing the arms race, promoting security dialogues, and enhancing mutual trust between countries.
Stressing economic cooperation as the prerequisite for security cooperation, China holds that members of the Asia-Pacific region should work more closely to boost joint economic prosperity.
To promote multilateral security cooperation, China has long been pushing for the establishment of security mechanisms.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including China, Russia, and four Central Asian countries, has become a successful model for security co-operation in the Asia-Pacific region.
To strengthen cooperation and enhance mutual trust, China advocates the principle of transparency in military affairs.
China has been actively participating in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), conventions on prohibition of chemical weapons, as well as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
After significantly cutting its military personnel in the 1980s and 90s, China further made clear to the outside world its policies on international security, regional cooperation, non-proliferation and its national defence.
Under the guideline of the new security conception, China has played a pivotal role in easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, solving disputes with its neighbors in the South China Sea, and in pushing forward security co-operation in the Asia-Pacific region.
To promote comprehensive security, China has also strengthened cooperation with other countries against international crime and narcotics trafficking.
However, the new security model advocated by China still faces some resistance from the Cold War mentality and hegemony.
But reality is certain to prove it to be a reliable guarantee for enduring world peace and stability.
(The author is an associate professor of Zhejiang Institute for Contemporary International Studies)
( June 30, 2002)
