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Chinese Soft Power, Insecurity Studies, Myopia and Fantasy

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 30; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01436590902867300

1360-2241

Shogo Suzuki,

Peacebuilding and International Security

Abstract This article is critical of a series of works on Chinese soft power which have garnered much attention in recent years. These works typically portray Chinese soft power, characterised by its disregard for Western models of development that propagate 'democratic governance', as a latent threat to global order. The article argues that such claims are premature, and to date there is little evidence of a systematic attempt by the Chinese to propagate a 'Beijing model' of autocratic development. These claims are substantiated by analysing China's participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa, which are characterised by mandates aimed at transforming war-torn states into liberal democracies. I suggest that China's participation in these operations is a crucial component of its 'charm offensive' aimed at the West, and designed to allay fears of a 'China Threat'. The article argues that Chinese understandings of soft power are diverse and directed at multiple audiences. The tendency to 'look for potential threats' in many Western policy-informed works, however, ignores the multifaceted nature and diverse views on Chinese soft power, and clouds our ability to understand this new phenomenon in Chinese foreign policy. Notes I am grateful to Adekeye Adebajo, Kweku Ampiah, Daniel Bach, Elena Barabantseva, Shaun Breslin, Christopher Hill, Inderjeet Parmar and Shannon Tow for their help and encouragement in various capacities in facilitating the writing of this article. A special thanks also to Natasha Hamilton-Hart for allowing me to use a part of the title of her excellent article, 'Terrorism in Southeast Asia: expert analysis, myopia and fantasy', which appeared in The Pacific Review, 13 (3), 2005, pp 303–325. The research for this article was made possible by a Universities China Committee grant. 1 'China's African Policy', People's Daily Online, at , accessed 6 September 2007. 2 J Kurlantzick, Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power is Transforming the World, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007, p 43. 3 Ibid, p 54. 4 JS Nye, Jr, 'Soft power', Foreign Policy, 80, 1990, pp 166–167. Emphasis in original. 5 'Full text of the resolution on cpc Central Committee report', at , accessed 20 May 2008. 6 See 'China enhances national image on cultural front', People's Daily Online, at , accessed 9 April 2008. 7 See, for instance, Zhang Zhan & Li Haijun, 'Guoji zhengzhi zhong de zhongguo ruan shili san yaosu', Zhongguo tese shehui zhuyi yanjiu, 4, 2003, pp 46, 47; Zhang Jinfang, 'Lun ruan shili yu zhongguo fazhan', Fazhi yu shehui, 12, 2007, p 576; and H Wang & Y-C Lu, 'The conception of soft power and its policy implications: a comparative study of China and Taiwan', Journal of Contemporary China, 17 (56), 2008, pp 428–430. 8 Yan Xuetong, 'The rise of China and its power status', Chinese Journal of International Politics, 1, 2006, pp 5–33; and Wang & Lu, 'The conception of soft power and its policy implications', pp 434–437. 9 Congressional Research Service, China's Foreign Policy and 'Soft Power' in South America, Asia, and Africa, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2008, p 3. 10 B Gill & Y Huang, 'Sources and limits of Chinese "soft power"', Survival, 48 (2), 2006, p 18. 11 Kurlantzick, Charm Offensive, p 56, emphasis added. 12 JC Ramo, The Beijing Consensus, London: Foreign Policy Centre, 2004, pp 4, 33. 13 Kurlantzick, Charm Offensive, pp 56–57. 14 JS Nye, Jr, 'The decline of America's soft power: why Washington should worry', Foreign Affairs, 83 (3), 2004, pp 16–20. 15 Zhang Jianjing, '"Beijing gongshi" yu zhongguo ruan shili de tisheng', Dangdai shijie yu shehui zhuyi, 5, 2004, p 10. 16 P Nyíri, 'The yellow man's burden: Chinese migrants on a civilizing mission', The China Journal, 56, 2006, p 106. 17 Gill & Huang, 'Sources and limits of Chinese "soft power"', pp 21–23; Kurlantzick, Charm Offensive, p 155; and interview, China Foundation for International Strategic Studies, Beijing, 23 April 2007. 18 R Paris, At War's End: Building Peace after Civil Conflict, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, p 41. 19 'Report of the Secretary General on the Sudan', 31 January 2005, UN Document S/2005/57, p 16, emphasis added. 20 'Report of the Secretary General on Darfur', 28 July 2006, UN Document S/2006/591, p 21. 21 United Nations Security Council, Resolution 1509 (2003), 19 September 2003, UN Document S/RES/1509(2003), p 4, emphasis added. 22 See World Bank, African Development Indicators, Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005, pp 88–90. 23 ES Downs, 'The fact and fiction of Sino-African energy relations', China Security, 3 (3), 2007, p 46. 24 Calculated from 'Zhonghua renmin gongheguo guojia tongjiju', Zhongguo tongji nianjian 2006, Beijing: Zhongguo tongji chubanshe, 2006, pp 738, 741. 25 Downs, 'The fact and fiction of Sino-African energy relations', p 44. 26 Wang & Lu, 'The conception of soft power and its policy implications', pp 435–436. 27 Interview, China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, 19 April 2007. 28 Interview, Chinese Institute of International Studies, Beijing, 23 April 2007. 29 Interview, China Foundation for International Strategic Studies, Beijing, 23 April 2007. 30 Gill & Huang, 'Sources and limits of Chinese "Soft Power"', pp 30–32; and Kurlantzick, Charm Offensive, pp 226–245. 31 Congressional Research Service, China's Foreign Policy and 'Soft Power' in South America, Asia, and Africa, p viii. 32 Gill & Huang, 'Sources and limits of Chinese "soft power"', pp 27–30. 33 Zhang, 'Lun ruan shili yu zhongguo fazhan', p 577. 34 H Hawksley, 'Chinese influence in Brazil worries US', bbc News, 3 April 2006, at , accessed 9 April 2008, emphasis added. 35 Zhang, '"Beijing gongshi" yu zhongguo ruan shili de tisheng', p 11. 36 Ramo, The Beijing Consensus, p 3. 37 Gill & Huang, 'Sources and limits of Chinese "soft power"', p 20. 38 Zhan Yijia, 'Zhongguo shi ruan shili daguo ma?', Shijie zhishi, 20, 2006, p 5. 39 Luo Jianbo, 'Ruhe youhua zhongguo heping jueqi de guojia xingxiang', in Men Honghua (ed), Zhongguo: ruan shili fanglüe, Hangzhou: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe, 2007, p 251. 40 Luo, 'Ruhe youhua zhongguo heping jueqi de guojia xingxiang', p 252. 41 Hu Angang, 'Dui zhongguo zhi lu de chubu renshi', in Huang Ping & Cui Zhiyuan (eds), Zhongguo yu quanqiuhua: huashengdun gongshi haishi beijing gongshi, Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2005, pp 170–171. 42 Nyíry, 'The yellow man's burden', p 104. Emphasis in original. 43 YN Cho & JH Jeong, 'China's soft power: discussions, resources, and prospects', Asian Survey, 48 (3), 2008, p 463. 44 See 'The "Washington Consensus" and "Beijing Consensus"', People's Daily Online, at , accessed 5 September 2007, emphasis added. 45 Zhang, '"Beijing gongshi" yu zhongguo ruan shili de tisheng', p 11. This point is echoed in Yu Keping, '"Zhongguo moshi": jingyan yu jianjie', in Yu Keping, Huang Ping, Xie Shuguang & Gao Jian (eds), Zhongguo moshi yu "beijing gongshi": chaoyue "huashengdun gongs"', Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2006, p 13. 46 Cho & Jeong, 'China's soft power: discussions, resources, and prospects', p 463. 47 D Thompson, 'China's soft power in Africa: from the "Beijing Consensus" to health diplomacy', China Brief, 5 (21), 13 October 2005, p 2; and I Taylor, 'China's oil diplomacy in Africa', International Affairs, 82 (5), 2006, p 941. 48 R Paris, 'International peacebuilding and the "mission civilisatrice"', Review of International Studies, 28 (4), 2002, pp 637–656. 49 Wang Yizhou, 'Zhuquan fanchou zai sikao', in Yang Chengxu & Wu Miaofa (eds), Xintiaozhan: guoji guanxi zhong de 'rendao zhuyi ganyu', Beijing: Zhongguo qingnian chubanshe, 2001, pp 141–142. 50 See A Carlson, Unifying China, Integrating with the World: Securing Chinese Sovereignty in the Reform Era, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005, pp 146–183. 51 He Wenping, 'The balancing act of China's Africa policy', China Security, 3 (3), 2007, p 33. 52 NJ Wheeler, 'The humanitarian responsibilities of sovereignty: explaining the development of a new norm of military intervention for humanitarian purposes in international society', in JM Welsh (ed), Humanitarian Intervention and International Relations, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, p 48. 53 B Gill, C Huang & JS Morrison, 'Assessing China's growing influence in Africa', China Security, 3 (3), 2007, pp 13, 14. 54 Downs, 'The fact and fiction of Sino-African energy relations', p 61. 55 Kurlantzick, Charm Offensive, pp 163–164. 56 Zhang, '"Beijing gongshi" yu zhongguo ruan shili de tisheng', p 13. 57 Joshua Kurlantzick, 'Beijing's safari: China's move into Africa and its implications for aid, development, and governance', Policy Outlook, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, November 2006, p 1. 58 Downs, 'The fact and fiction of Sino-African energy relations', pp 56–57. 59 M Leonard, 'The road obscured', Financial Times, 8 July 2005. 60 Kurlantzick, Charm Offensive, pp 155–160. 61 Nyíri, 'The yellow man's burden', p 103. Emphasis in original. 62 C Alden, 'China in Africa', Survival, 47 (3), 2005, pp 159–161. 63 Congressional Research Service, China's Foreign Policy and 'Soft Power' in South America, Asia, and Africa, p 11.