China’s contradictory role(s) in world politics: decrypting China’s North Korea strategy
2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 35; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/01436597.2014.926120
ISSN1360-2241
Autores Tópico(s)Global Peace and Security Dynamics
ResumoAbstractThis paper starts from the assumption that geostrategic and security interests alone are not sufficient to explain China's foreign policy choices. It argues that ideas about what China's role as an actor in the increasingly globalised international system should be, and about world order in general, have a deep influence on China's foreign policy decision-making process. Taking the North Korean issue as a case study, the paper postulates that China is currently engaged in a search for a 'new' identity as a global player. China's actor identity is composed of various partly contradictory role conceptions. National roles derived from China's internal system structures and its historical past lead to continuity in foreign policy, while the 'new' roles resultant from China's rise to global power require an adaptation of its foreign policy principles. In the case of its relationship with North Korea, China's foreign policy is oscillating between the two roles of 'socialist power' – as thus comrade-in-arms with its socialist neighbour – and 'responsible great power', which leads to it being expected to comply with international norms, and thus to condemn North Korea's nuclear provocations and related actions.Keywords: ChinaNorth Koreagreat powernational identityrole theorysocialist power AcknowledgementsA first draft of this paper was presented and discussed at the workshop 'China's Role in International Politics' (Heidelberg, September 15–18, 2013). The author would like to thank Jörn-Carsten Gottwald, Sebastian Harnisch, Patrick Köllner, Cameron Thies, Shih Chih-yu and Chen Yugang for their very helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.Notes1. "South Korea Finds 'Drone'."2. Cooper and Fackler, "US Response to Crimea Worries Japan's Leaders."3. "Nuclear Tests Only Further Isolate Pyongyang."4. 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