By Zhang Tuosheng
The current domestic and foreign policies of China boil down to:
Sticking to the road of peaceful development.
The country's foreign policy is geared to the promotion of
peace, opening up to the rest of the world, safeguarding national
sovereignty and territorial integrity, helping create an
international climate favorable to China's economic development,
and bringing about a harmonious world that benefits all members of
the global family.
Some principles of the foreign policy were put in place shortly
after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Some
were formulated after the reform and opening up policies were
started in the late 1970s. Still others have been introduced in
recent years, dictated by changes in the international arena, and
domestic needs.
The new developments in China's foreign policy in recent years
find expression in a number of ways.
First, it is emphasized that domestic and foreign affairs enjoy
equal priority so that they can be integrated more closely.
What are China's overriding domestic tasks in the upcoming 10
years?
The first is to realize harmonious development of the country in
order to eventually bring about a well-off society by 2020. The
second is to continually improve relations between the mainland and
Taiwan for the purpose of introducing a framework of peaceful
development across the Taiwan Straits on the premise of the
one-China principle, which serves as the vehicle for creating the
necessary conditions for the peaceful reunification of the
motherland.
Diplomacy should serve these two overriding tasks. At the same
time, domestic policies will lend support.
As a matter of fact, the boundaries between diplomacy and
domestic affairs are becoming increasingly blurred in the new
international and domestic context. And their interactions with one
another are getting stronger and stronger. For example, we are
faced with energy, financial, environment, global warming and food
safety issues. These are new challenges facing China's diplomacy.
But to resolve these issues on the diplomatic front, they must also
be settled on home turf first or simultaneously.
Second, a new security outlook is being advocated, which is
based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, and
cooperation.
Guided by the new security outlook, China has in recent years
made important progress in settling territorial disputes with its
neighbors, implementing economy-oriented diplomacy, pushing for
regional security dialogue mechanisms, strengthening its
cooperation with the international community in non-traditional
security fields such as anti-terror campaigns and non-proliferation
undertakings.
It is expected that non-conventional security considerations
will play an increasingly bigger part in China's foreign and
security policies while continuing to pay attention to conventional
security. As a result, China's international cooperation activities
will continue in a big way.
Third, working hard to ensure the development of China's
relations with major developed countries, neighboring countries and
the developing world.
Among these different relations, that with neighboring countries
is the most important, and concerns major powers as well as
developing countries. "Reassuring, benefiting and befriending our
neighbors" is the most fundamental policy that China's handling of
its relations with neighboring countries is based on.
In its relations with big powers, China puts expanding common
interests before everything else, and spares no effort to ensure
the steady development of its relations with all big powers for the
sake of regional and global strategic stability. One recent example
is China-Japan ties, which lagged miserably behind other bilateral
relations for a while, have now improved significantly since last
year. This encouraging situation bodes well for achieving
stability, cooperation and relatively balanced trilateral ties
between China, the United States, and Japan in East Asia.
With respect to its relations with developing countries, China
emphasizes that the developing world constitutes the very
foundation upon which China's total diplomacy is based. Good
political relations with developing countries should be
increasingly integrated with economic cooperation, while China's
aid to developing nations should contribute to the long-term
development of their economies and security.
Fourth, China is playing an active part in international affairs
with emphasis on gaining "soft strength" and acting as a
responsible big country as it should be.
China is currently transforming from a developing country to a
developed one, from a regional power to a global one. The process
has just started and the country has a long way to go.
The transition is largely reflected in China getting more and
more involved in multilateral diplomacy and its assigning
increasing importance to the formulation and implementation of
international rules. In recent years, China has been making great
efforts to uphold the United Nations' authority, advocating
multilateralism, encouraging dialogue between different
civilizations and cultures, participating in and promoting
international and regional cooperation, getting proactive about
peace-keeping and peace-building missions and extending the reach
of its foreign aid.
All this indicates that the process of China's integration into
the international community has entered a new phase. Playing the
role of a responsible big country on the world stage will be a new
starting point for the country's foreign policy.
Fifth, China is determined to seize the favorable strategic
opportunities to make itself more prosperous and powerful and also
help promote world peace and development.
It is believed that the next 10 to 15 years constitutes a period
of strategic opportunities. Why? I believe the following four
factors answer this question.
Number one, the world economy, the Chinese and Asia-Pacific
economies in particular, are expected to develop in a sustainable
way during this period. As China nears its goal of becoming a
well-off society, its comprehensive national strength will rise to
a new level.
Number two, conditions favorable to the reunification of the
motherland will largely increase, against the backdrop that the
mainland is becoming increasingly powerful and prosperous.
Number three, China will possibly establish mature, stable and
constructive cooperative relations with major powers, in the course
of its deepening reform and rapid development.
Number four, nations of the world will hopefully find ways and
mechanisms to cope with non-traditional security threats and
negative impacts from globalization, after a period of exploration
and cooperation.
China is striving to seize this period of strategic
opportunities because the country hopes to facilitate progress in
those four areas.
Based on the new developments in China's foreign policy, the
trend is quite clear. China is resolved to advancing world peace,
development and cooperation.
Before I wrap up this observation, let us spend some time on the
assessment of China's military strength.
First, the military strength of a country necessarily grows with
the development of its economy, science and technology. Now that
China's economy, science and technology is accelerating, it is only
natural for the modernization of its military forces to pick up
pace as well.
Second, the ominous expansion of "Taiwan independence" forces
since the mid-1990s has contributed significantly to the fast
development of the mainland's military strength. Caught in this
situation, the mainland has no choice but to increase military
spending in an effort to contain "Taiwan independence" elements and
safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In response to the two factors mentioned above, China adjusted
its relevant strategy from keeping national defense buildup behind
economic growth to advancing the two in sync.
Third, in order to take on more international obligations, make
greater contributions to world and regional peace and stability and
protect its overseas interests, China needs to strengthen its
military capabilities, including an indispensable long-distance
delivery capability.
Finally, as a nuclear power whose space technology is also
developing at a fast pace, the country's policies have always been
clear and precise: maintaining a nuclear defensive with limited but
reliable deterrence capabilities and a pledge to never use or
threaten to use of nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear country
or region and remain dedicated to total nuclear disarmament and the
scrapping of nuclear arms in the world.
China supports peaceful use of outer space as well as a total
ban on militarization and the weaponization of outer space. And the
modernization of China's nuclear arms and development of its space
technology are strong safeguards for realizing the above-mentioned
policies.
Looking at the future, as China-US and China-Japan ties continue
to move toward stability and cooperation, the situation across the
Taiwan Straits will ease and the East Asian multilateral security
mechanism will take shape and grow. The country's military
transparency and its mutual confidence with nations such as the US
and Japan will surely be able to improve. Also, no matter how the
international situation will change and how China's strength will
develop, it will never entertain the ambition of becoming a
military superpower.
In a word, the development of China's military forces will be
synchronized with that of its politics, economy, culture, science
and technology so that the nation will be a positive force behind
regional and world peace, stability and prosperity.
The author is a researcher with China Foundation for
International and Strategic Studies
(China Daily October 17, 2007)
