China's Approach to Central Asia

The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation

Weiqing Song

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781138780781
• eBook ISBN: 9781317672524
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This book examines, comprehensively, the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, the regional organisation which consists of China, Russia and most of the Central Asian countries. It charts the development of the Organisation from the establishment of its precursor, the Shanghai Five, in 1996, through its own foundation in 2001 to the present. It considers the foreign policy of China and of the other member states, showing how the interests and power of the member states determine the Organisation's institutions, functional development and relations with non-members. It explores the Organisation's activities in the fields of politics and security co-operation, economic and energy co-operation, and in culture and education, and concludes with a discussion of how the Organisation is likely to develop in future. Throughout, the book sets the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation in the context of China's overall strategy towards Central Asia.

1 Anatomy of China’s neighbourhood policy

DOI: 10.4324/9781315770482-2

This chapter traces the trajectory of China’s neighbourhood strategy in the post-Cold War era as it relates to the country’s grand development plan. Within this broad context, China has adopted and implemented a neighbourhood policy towards Central Asia. Thus, this chapter describes the general context for China’s relations with Central Asian countries, its interactions with Russia in the region and the role of Chinese leadership in the origin and evolution of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Introduction: a close neighbour is dearer than a distant relative¹

At the Conference on the Diplomatic Work on Neighboring Countries in October 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave an elaborate speech about China’s foreign policy towards neighbouring countries. President Xi has given several talks at a number of conferences organised by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since assuming his position in the new Chinese leadership. Through these talks, the new Chinese leadership, which took over from the previous Hu-Wen government, has tried to set keynotes, proclaim strategies and identify directions in several key areas including the economy, rural development, legal work and propaganda.² President Xi delivered his talk about neighbourhood policy within this context. He emphasised the importance of China’s foreign policy towards neighbouring countries and realising the ‘centenary goals’ set out by the 18th CCP National Congress in November 2012.³ These goals relate mainly to China’s socioeconomic development. All seven of the members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP attended the conference, demonstrating the importance that top Chinese leadership attached to the issue of China’s neighbourhood. Why is China’s neighbourhood policy a high priority? Why is it connected to the objective of China’s domestic development? These questions delve into the core of China’s neighbourhood policy, including its motivations, environments and strategies. They must be answered to clarify China’s neighbourhood policy and foreign strategy and policy at large.

Before addressing these key issues, it is necessary to define Chinese neighbourhood policy. Neighbourhood policy refers to how an international actor (usually a state) defines, formulates and implements its foreign policies towards the other states in geographical proximity. In a time of globalisation, new technological advancements have accelerated the communication speed, density and mobility of people residing in the ‘global village’. Terms like ‘de-territorialisation’ and ‘instantaneity’ have been coined to describe the on-going de-emphasis of the importance of distance (McGrew, 2008: 18–19). However, distance still matters, as ‘[p]hysical proximity increases the opportunity for neighboring states to interact, although the results of this interaction can be either conflict or cooperation’ (Chan, 2013: 376). Few people can deny that the individuals and communities within close proximity to one another have a far greater chance of interacting. Indeed, whether it is a blessing or a curse, proximity is important.

In the context of international relations, geopolitical factors are also important. Geopolitical theory posits that every state in the world follows a ‘geopolitical code’ that indicates how it orientates itself in relation to the world. This is why states usually pay special attention to nearby ‘politically relevant’ countries. Some states even adopt well-defined foreign strategies and policies in relation to their neighbourhoods.⁴ A neighbourhood policy is generally defined as a foreign policy instrument that a country uses to target nearby countries with the aim of achieving certain policy objectives important to its interests.

China has pursued a neighbourhood policy towards the countries surrounding its territories. According to the report of the 16th CCP National Congress in 2002, the neighbourhood policy was put in place to consolidate friendly relations with neighbouring countries by ‘demonstrating good intentions, seeking partnerships, and enhancing regional cooperation’. Well-known rhetoric portrays China’s neighbourhood policy as a ‘good neighbour policy’ (or Mulin Youhao Zhengce in its Chinese origin) (Chung, 2010: 13). Some scholars have preferred to label the policy as China’s ‘periphery policy’ (i.e., Zhao, 1999; Shi, 2000). However, most scholars use the Chinese term ‘Zhoubian Waijiao’ (meaning ‘policy and diplomacy towards surrounding areas’) (i.e., Su, 2004; Zhong and Zhong, 2011). All of these different terms refer to the same domain of policies and practices China implements to deal with its neighbouring countries.

This book adopts the term ‘neighbourhood policy’ for several reasons. First, the term is relatively neutral compared with the official Chinese term of ‘good neighbour policy’, which infers a type of propaganda. Moreover, the term is more comprehensive than ‘peripheral policy’, which refers narrowly to the areas linked to China’s remote areas. Furthermore, ‘neighbourhood policy’ is more internationally standardised due to its wide adoption by other actors, most notably the European Union (EU), in policy areas of similar scope and nature.

There are different views of the origin and history of China’s neighbourhood policy. Shi (2000) argues that China’s neighbourhood policy has a long history that began immediately after the CCP took power in 1949. Although China has long implemented concrete policies towards most of its neighbouring countries, its neighbourhood policy was formalised as a foreign strategy only very recently. Throughout most of the Cold War era, China faced severe hostility in its neighbouring environment, imposed by the United States and later the Soviet Union. These circumstances were quite exceptional, as most of the other states were aligned with either of the two superpowers. As such, China made it an urgent priority to break the ‘strategic siege’ and find a way out. This largely explained Mao’s formulation of the well-known ‘third worlds theory’ and China’s corresponding adoption of its grand strategy to unite with the third world, cooperate with the second world and counter the first world.⁵ Chinese leadership placed little emphasis on the country’s neighbourhood in terms of its strategic thinking because China had little chance of exercising its influence over the nearby regions. For a time, China was able to develop its good neighbour policy only towards a small number of its neighbours such as North Korea, North Vietnam and Pakistan.

Since its rapprochement with the United States and other Western countries in the early 1970s, China has been able to develop its substantial neighbourhood policy, starting with Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries. The end of the Cold War further boosted the process. Many of China’s neighbours were less constrained after the end of the bipolar system, offering China more room to operate. More specifically, the implosion of the Soviet Union created a number of new neighbours for China, a trend that has continued ever since. As China’s global reach has increased, its neighbourhood policy has become a focal point of its grand strategy. The following sections focus on three major issues. They define China’s motivations as the driving forces of its neighbourhood policy, discuss China’s various possibilities in pursuing its interests in the neighbouring regions and identify its main strategies for implementing its neighbourhood policy.

Multifaceted motivations

The Chinese grand foreign strategy is known as ‘Sige Buju’ or the ‘four layouts’ strategy as summarised by former Chinese President Hu Jingtao.⁶ The Sige Buju strategy covers the four main dimensions and focuses of China’s foreign policy agenda. It defines ‘major powers as the key; neighbourhood as the priority; developing countries as the basis; and multilateralism as an important platform’. This strategic plan complements long-term Chinese foreign policy objectives including sovereignty and territorial integrity, economic development and international respect and status (Medeiros, 2009: 13). Although the three objectives are on different levels of the national strategic hierarchy, they are all important to national interests. The Chinese government defines four main venues for achieving these policy priorities. Of these, Chinese policymakers prioritise the establishment of great power relations and the neighbourhood policy.

In terms of strategic planning, China’s neighbourhood policy is an essential part of its grand foreign strategy, which is in turn formulated and implemented according to the overall national development strategy. Its high profile demonstrates the importance of the neighbourhood to Chinese foreign policymakers, as the success of the neighbourhood policy is key to realising all three of the major foreign policy objectives. Because China has a vast area and borders a dozen neighbouring countries both on land and overseas, its relations with its neighbours have direct effects on its major foreign policy objectives: sovereignty, economic development and international status. China engages in territorial disputes with its neighbours, and huge economic interests drive its relations with its neighbourhood. Its ambition to become a major power of global influence naturally begins with it...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Introduction: the Silk Road rediscovered
• 1 Anatomy of China’s neighbourhood policy
• 2 China’s international leadership in SCO
• 3 Institutionalisation of the SCO
• 4 International politics of the SCO
• 5 Security and political cooperation
• 6 Economic and functional cooperation
• 7 Cultural and educational cooperation
• Conclusion: the road ahead
• Appendix
• Index