Now that a new approach in understanding China is getting popular among the students of Chinese studies, one finds that the Chinese rulers have always followed Sun Tzu’s advice and want to win a war without ever fighting it as long as it is possible. Thanks to the new theory in understanding China’s relations with other countries, known as the world-centric view, we now have a better understanding of diplomacy of imperial China. Unlike, the Sino-centric view of the earlier pioneers of Chinese studies in the West, which stated that China’s might made the bordering states pay tribute to it, the new world-centric view states that it was not necessarily the case. The Chinese state was more concerned with the activities of its neighbors, and the tribute system, a misnomer, by the way, was a brilliant diplomatic move. When the tributary missions paid their tributes to the emperor, the emperor would in return give them more than the money paid in tributes and bestow them with expensive gifts, and make sure the diplomatic missions returned home happy. All that Beijing court wanted was that the other states did not create any problems in the border areas. Therefore, it is safe to say that Chinese diplomacy was guided by its geography from very early on. Even today, Chinese diplomacy and defense are guided by the activities in/around its bordering states. But unlike in the past, the neighboring countries are not expected to come to Beijing and pay tributes, instead, China is reaching out to its neighbors, through various forums to discuss strategic and economic issues, such as Asean Regional Forum, BOA Forum, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and as an observer in the SAARC. One only needs to look at China’s neighbors to understand Chinese active engagement with its neighboring countries.
China is probably the only emerging world-power in the world that is surrounded by three nuclear powers (Russia, India and Pakistan), two potential nuclear powers (Japan and North Korea), countries with political instability and uncertainties (Nepal and Kyrgyzstan who happen to border the most politically sensitive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang respectively) and unresolved historical and border issues with Japan (Second World War atrocities and the dispute over Diaoyutai islands), India, and some other countries of South East Asia over the islands in the South China sea. Unlike America whose geographic position – i.e. Atlantic and Pacific oceans separating it from Europe and Asia, and friendly and militarily weak neighbors – works to its advantage, China ‘s geographic position works to its disadvantage. Of course risks of full fledged wars between China and its neighbors or other powers are miniscule now, thanks to China’s extensive diplomatic involvement in the regional forums and bilateral engagements with the neighboring countries. No country wants to take risks when it comes to its defense, and China is no exception. These reasons explain why China has to spend a significant amount of money to maintain the largest army in the world, and to procure and develop latest technologies for its army.
External threats notwithstanding, China faces more internal threats. Possession of nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles such as Dong Feng (DF) series whose latest model DF-41 has a 12,000 KM range, may work to its advantage when dealing with other countries/traditional security threats, but are useless when faced with domestic threats. It cannot possibly use the missiles or nuclear might when it comes to protecting itself from terrorist and secessionist activities emanating from its own borders. The Chinese defense white paper released by the Ministry of Defense in 2009 specifically mentions the secessionist and terrorist activities in Tibet, Taiwan and the majority Muslim province of Xinjiang as its major national security threats. Beijing strategists are particularly more concerned about Taiwan because the issue is no longer between China and Taiwan. By specifically mentioning Taiwan as a mutual security concern in the US-Japan security pact of 2005, these countries have internationalized the issue and have put a tremendous pressure on the Chinese to make sure that Taiwan does not do anything to change the status quo.
Additionally, with the broadening of the idea of national security, it is no longer limited to security against external threats. Now, the concept includes, economic security, information security, fighting terrorism and even lessening the impact of natural disasters. And one of the biggest impediments to China ‘s development is natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. Being a country with the largest population and obviously having one of the highest population densities (almost six sevenths of the population lives in one third of the land; big provinces such as Tibet, Xinjiang and Qinghai have extreme weather conditions, and lack cultivable land), earthquakes and floods pose a serious challenge to its human and economic security. As a result, China has changed its defense strategy. More emphasis is placed on training the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for military operations other than war (MOOTW), and emphasis is being placed on making the PLA a defensive army.
PLA, was established as the army of the Communist Party on Aug 1, 1927. Although in theory, it still is the party’s army, but for Chinese and foreigners alike, it is the national army of China. 2.3 million-strong PLA has undergone many changes since the reforms and opening up campaign started by Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s. One of the four stated goals of opening up was modernization of the defense forces. From that point onward, R&D in military technologies has been a major focus of the Chinese government. China’s defense spending is also increasing. Some analysts believe that the rise in China’s defense spending has led to the rise in defense spending in India and Japan, and if the trend continues, there is a real danger of arms race in the region which will not be in anybody’s interests.
Therefore, next week when the celebrations of PLA’s 83rd anniversary will be over and when the defense strategists sit down to review defense strategy, they should, besides discussing the ways to combat internal threats, also come up with a policy of increasing the degree of engagement with its neighbors on security issues. Internationally, the focus has to be on assuaging the fear of its military might among its neighbors, and the ways to control arms race in Asia to further minimize the possibility of border skirmishes and full fledged wars. Just as China is concerned about its neighbors’ military development, its neighbors too are concerned about its growing might. China’s neighbors should be sensitive to China’s valid security concerns and vice-versa to avoid any untoward situation in the region.
Like mentioned in the beginning, China has been constructively engaging with its neighbors individually and in various regional forums, but both China and its neighboring countries need to do more. Its neighbors should share any intelligence information they have on anti-China activities and expertise on lowering the risks of natural disasters, and vice versa. Intelligence sharing, organizing more joint military exercises, promoting trade and cultural exchanges can do wonders to solve the outstanding issues between China and some of its neighbors. This kind of constructive engagement will on the one hand lower China’s internal security threats, on the other hand, has the potential to end the arms race in Asia in the long run especially between India and China, which will be in everybody’s advantage— more so to Nepal’s advantage because of our location between them. Therefore, it’s also our responsibility to make sure that SAARC-China engagement is constructive and also work toward establishing SAARC regional forum with China as a member to discuss regional security issues. The more talks, the more engagements, the better for the countries of the region!
trailokyaa@yahoo.com
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