Miles Bierylo & Corey Norell
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| The Joint Chinese-American Naval Flotilla During the 2014 RIMPAC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5f-Bt3DXfU |
The emergence of China on the world stage has had a number of implications for the future of international relations. Since the era of trade liberalization under Deng Xiaoping, China’s state led industrial might continues to grow at an unprecedented rate–and with it, the global economy becomes increasingly intertwined with China’s. Because China’s domestic goals of value-added, export driven growth rely so heavily on certain regions and their resources, they view their expanded role in international politics as necessary to their national interest. At the same time, political and economic frictions have put China at odds with the Western sphere of influence and has prevented a consensus from being reached on a number of pertinent issues. While China believes this tension to be borne out of a Western desire to contain China, Western policy makers perceive it to be a rational reaction to China’s challenging of the longstanding world order.
Conflicts as geographically diverse as Syria and Iran to the Ukraine and North Korea are all greatly impacted by China’s foreign policy. Both China and Russia’s support of the Kim and Assad regimes in the way of investment and arms has created a major counterweight to the US hegemony. The proliferation of Chinese made weapons throughout the Middle East and Africa–even in the face of UN sanctions–has fueled numerous sectarian conflicts in those regions. Similarly, Russia’s capital void–left in the wake of US and European sanctions following Crimea–may soon be filled by Chinese bonds, rendering the sanctions counter-productive. China also holds a large degree of political leverage over the Western order because of it's permanent membership on the UN Security Council. In the past, they have used this power to veto resolutions that would have condemned the Assad regime and have also threatened to use it against
sanctions on North Korea.
Whats perhaps more promising though is the willingness of China to cooperate on issues of economic and environmental importance such as the cutting of carbon emissions and bilateral trade agreements. As a consequence of China's highly integrated economy, they realize that it is in their best interest to maintain good relations both with their neighbors and their trading partners (and vice versa). Hopefully this paradigm will be enough to keep China and the West from direct confrontation.
References:
Hachigian, Nina. Debating China the US-China Relationship in Ten Conversations. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.
Lynch, Colum. "China Vows to Veto North Korea Sanctions - The Spokesman-Review." Spokesman.com. The Washington Post, 13 July 2006. Web. 13 Sept. 2014.
Lynch, Colum. "China's Arms Exports Flooding Sub-Saharan Africa."Washington Post. The Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2012. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
"United Nations Security Council - Veto List." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.
Gates, Bill. Chinese Arms Exports to Iran (1998): n. pag. Web.
Korby, Boris. "Russia's $20 Billion Bond Void Filled by Nations From China to Mexico." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 19 June 2014. Web. 13 Sept. 2014.
Images:
Latuff, Carlos. "Drawing Controversy." Al Jazeera. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201401290053-0023426
Renfroe, Sharon. Coastguard Compass. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2014/08/rimpac-2014-aligning-maritime-forces/>.
This is very interesting to read more into China's control on international relations. Lots of their power is held in their ability to produce, as this post mentioned Chinese-made weapons in particular going to the Middle East and Africa. China also being a member of the UN Security Counsel is another way in which the country exercises great power. I learned a lot about China's international involvement and how it maintains peaceful equilibrium with its neighbor countries.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment above in that it is quite interesting to read about China's impact on international policies. However, I think that it would beneficial for you to add more about the history of how China gained such control on international relations.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how you mentioned China's industrial strength, their relation to international policies, and their relations with the US and Russia. However, I, like Assala, think you need to add more about how China reached their power. I like that you mentioned that China is trying to cut down on carbon emissions, because they are one of the world's most polluted nations due to the overproduction of their exports.
ReplyDelete