China's Belt and Road Initiative and Building the Community of Common Destiny

Linggui Wang, Jianglin Zhao

• Publisher: WSPC
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9789813278738
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: International Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has attracted growing attention from around the world since it was first announced. It is, along with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a critical instrument for realizing what the Chinese government calls the Community of Common Destiny (CCD).

The core idea presented in this volume is that the CCD represents a new paradigm for promoting regional collaboration in socio-economic development, and plays a crucial role in reshaping the international geopolitical landscape. Contributors show that the belief in common development and common security transcends differences in cultural tradition and pre-existing level of development. This belief underlies the commitments among countries and regions participating in the BRI to working closely together in pursuit of shared and sustained prosperity.

The chapters are based on papers presented at 'Building the Community of Common Destiny between China and Its Neighbors: Challenges and the Future', an international forum co-organized by the National Institute for Global Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the University of International Relations (China). Thirty experts from more than twenty countries have contributed to this volume.

Contents:

• Preface
• About the Editors
• Conceptual Exploration:
  • Introduction — The Community of Common Destiny between China and its Neighbors: A New Paradigm for Promoting World Socio-Economic Development (Wang Linggui & Zhao Jianglin)
  • Building a Community of Common Destiny: The Choice for the West is Either 'Staying the Course' or Undertakes 'Course Correction' (Syed Hasan Javed)
  • Building the Community of Common Destiny between China and its Neighbors: The Prospect and Policy Suggestion (Romyen Kosaikanont)
  • Building the Community of Common Destiny (Kyee Myint)
  • Building a Community of Common Destiny between China and the Neighboring Countries: Concept, Connotation and Approach (Wang Junsheng )
• Economic Community:
  • Philippines—China Trade, Economic Cooperation, and Prospects for Policy Research (Danilo C Israel)
  • Building a Community of Common Destiny between China and its Neighbors: Challenges and the Future of Economic Cooperation in China—Sri Lanka Relations (Dushni Weerakoon)
  • Economic Cooperation between China and Central Asia (Roman Mogilevskii)
  • Opportunities for Investment in Mongolia (Chuluungombiin Narantuya)
  • Tourism: Economic and Cultural Bond between China and Nepal (Bishnu B Khatri)
• Cultural Community:
  • Bridging China and Indonesia: The Role of Chinese Indonesians (Hoon Chang Yau)
  • Promoting Regional People-to-People Exchange and Establishing Mechanisms of Exchange and Cooperation among Regional Think Tanks (Chauyen Lai Shrestha)
  • A Preliminary Study of Southeast Asian Foreign Policy Think Tanks' Attitudes towards China (Ngeow Chow Bing)
• Security Community:
  • Security Issues Faced by Asian Countries and its Suggestions (Park Jiyoung)
  • China and its Adjacent Areas: Terrorist Threat Situation and Countermeasures (Chen Li)
  • Afghanistan's Understanding of Building a Community of Common Destiny between China and its Neighbors (Sayed Mahdi Munadi)
  • Building a Community of Common Destiny: Cambodia—China Military Cooperation (Kin Phea)
  • CICA Mechanism: The Progress Status and Prospect (Yang Danzhi)
• Regional Community:
  • The Future of Thai-Chinese Relationship: Challenges and Opportunities (Sompong Sanguanbun)
  • Building a Community of Common Destiny From the Laos' Perspective (Lattana Thavonsouk )
  • Forging a Community of Common Destiny between China and Central Asia (Kemel Toktomushev)
  • Suggestions on the Cooperation between China and ASEAN in the New Situation (Jinsen Du)
  • The Belt and Road Initiative and ASEAN Connectivity: Synergy Issues and Potentialities (Bruno Jetin)
  • Colliding Nationalisms: Interstate Relations in Asia (Sow Keat Tok)
  • The Future of Transnational Cooperation in Eurasia (Yulia A Kryachkina)
• Index

Readership: Academics, professionals, policy-makers and students interested in China's Belt and Road Initiative and China's relations with neighboring areas. China's Belt and Road Initiative;International Relations;Neighboring Areas;Common Destiny00

Part 1

Conceptual Exploration

Chapter
1

Introduction

The Community of Common Destiny between China and its Neighbors: A New Paradigm for Promoting World Socio-Economic Development

Wang Linggui and Zhao Jianglin

National Institute for Global Strategy (NIGS), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China

On 18^th to 19^th November 2016, the National Institute for Global Strategy (NIGS), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and University of International Relations, organized the International Think Tank Forum on “Building the Community of Common Destiny between China and Its Neighbors: Challenges and the Future” in Beijing. About 30 experts from China’s 20 neighboring countries and 30 experts from China gathered to discuss the theories and practices with regards to promoting the Community of Common Destiny (CCD) between China and its neighbors.

The participating experts generally agreed that the CCD was a new paradigm for promoting regional socio-economic development, and for shaping international cooperation and international order from an entirely novel perspective. Although countries and regions are having varied socio-economic development difficulties and challenges, and their understanding of the concept of the CCD differs, the notion for common development and common security is widely shared and generally advocated by all participating scholars.

The Community of Common Destiny: A New Perspective for Shaping International Cooperation and International Order

Exploring the Connotation of the CCD

Views of the Chinese Scholars

Prof. Cai Fang, Vice President, CASS and Chairman of Board of Directors, NIGS, CASS, pointed out that the Chinese government has been strongly advocating for an inclusive, interactive and integrated approach to the process of building the CCD for consultation and common development. Think tanks play an important and indispensable role in such an endeavor.

Mr. Lu Zhongwei, Former Director-General of China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, talked about the advantages of building the CCD in terms of political relations, geographical neighborhood, and economic complementarity. He suggested to translate those advantages into incentives and benefits for practical collaboration, mutual support, and sustainable growth among countries in the region.

Views of the Foreign Scholars

Mr. Syed Hasan Javed, Ambassador (Retired) of the Foreign Service of Pakistan, and Director of Chinese Studies Centre, National University of Science and Technology (NUST) of Pakistan, commented that China is a main driving force for peace and development, and went on to say that one should acknowledge and understand China’s peaceful rise. The past development model was a zero-sum game, which had caused many difficulties, but China’s rise provides the world with a reason and an opportunity for optimism. What the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) advocates is exactly a win–win development model. We should not be conned to the old way of thinking.

Mr. Kyee Myint, Senior Researcher, Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (Myanmar ISIS) believed that the concept of building the CCD had four main principles. Firstly, it assures that all countries treat each other equally and with respect. Secondly, it seeks win–win cooperation and shared development. Thirdly, it aims for collaboration and sustainable security. And lastly, it promises inclusiveness and mutual learning among civilizations. The CCD is an important strategy of China for ensuring peaceful and stable relations with its neighbors. It is believed that the CCD is in essence of China’s efforts to develop cordial relations with its neighbors to ensure a peaceful and stable external strategic environment. The concept of the CCD is centered on economic initiatives. The AIIB and the BRI are the two main pillars of this concept. Its ultimate goal is to demonstrate China’s responsibility as a big country, and to establish a new world economic order.

Opportunities and Challenges Facing the Building of the CCD

Views of the Foreign Scholars

Ms. Yulia A. Kryachkina, Researcher of Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS), commented that Russia’s present strategy in the Asia and Pacific region was very clear. Russia hopes to connect with the BRI as well as other projects, such as the Eurasia Economic Union and the Eurasia Initiative of Korea. The cooperation between China and Russia in the economic area has been dynamic and significant, as well as in the political arena. To address the security issues, the key is to build mutual trust for development. Mr. Sayed Mahdi Munadi, Director of Center for Strategic Studies (CSS), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, argued that the Asia region was facing serious challenges from separatism, terrorism and extremism. Actions are needed to maintain regional peace and development. In that regard, mutual support under the concept of CCD is necessary. Security and economy are complementary to each other, since economic initiatives are effective ways to deal with unemployment, poverty and energy shortage. On the other hand, Mr. Munadi argued that alliances or associations of any forms should be discouraged and the BRI should be pursued in indirect ways. What is needed today in the region is a new form of conservatism for measured, rather than radical changes.

Mr. Sompong Sanguanbun, Dean of Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, Rangsit University, Thailand, commented that the long history of relationship between China and Thailand goes back to a thousand years. The two countries share common values and traditions and have similar religions. In recent years, the Sino-Thai relationship has developed very rapidly. For future development, China will need to assure other countries that winners will not take all. It will also be necessary to take into consideration the interests of all countries and commit to shared responsibilities.

Mr. Sow Keat Tok, Deputy Director of Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia, believed that nationalism was harmful to the common development of Asia Pacific countries, which made it extremely difficult to form any global thinking. Therefore, it is necessary to control nationalistic extremists.

Views of the Chinese Scholars

Mr. Wu Li, Director and Senior Research Fellow of Tibet Think Tank, CASS, believed that the building of CCD was aligned with the world development trend. The BRI and the CCD reflect China’s efforts to promote common development, win–win cooperation and open-minded approach of China for friendship and peaceful development in the region.

Mr. Xu Yongquan, Deputy Director of China Center for Contemporary World Studies, International Department of Central Committee of CPC, underscored the importance of the BRI and the CCD and stated that they were actually public goods that the Government of China provided to the world.

Mr. Huang Renwei, Deputy Director of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, remarked that the smooth implementation of the BRI required the support of big countries. It would be a great challenge if the major powers such as the US, EU and Russia continued the Cold War and geopolitical mentality, not giving any consideration to shared interests.

Prof. Lin Limin from Department of International Politics, University of International Relations, believed that the biggest challenge facing building the CCD came from trust-building and confidence-building. Historical issues, land and maritime disputes, as well as issues related to civil wars all play a part in that regard. It is widely observed that Asia is rising while the West, including the US and Europe, is declining. The gravity of world development is shifting, not only to the Asia-Pacific region but also from oceans to inlands. It offers new opportunities to build CCD.

Building the Economic Community between China and Its Neighbors: Achievements and Challenges Co-Exist

Scholars in China and from other countries have a lot of consensus about building an economic community. While acknowledging many achievements in the area of economic cooperation, they discussed directions of future economic cooperation in Asia as well as ways to overcome many current challenges.

Great Achievements Were Made but Some Challenges Remain

Cognition of the Foreign Scholars about the Concept of Building the Economic Community

Mr. Bruno Jetin, Associate Professor of Institute of Asian Studies, University Brunei Darussalam, stated that the BRI became a hot topic in the region. The initiative will have far-reaching implications in China, Asia and even the whole world. The BRI is destined to bring more dynamics to Asian economies, helping all Asian countries prosper and develop. Besides the BRI, there are other initiatives and ideas; we need to find common ground among these initiatives and common interests of China and other countries including ASEAN countries. It is important to ensure that infrastructure and inter-connectivity projects between China and ASEAN member countries can avoid adhocness and are sustainable.

Mr. Hyung-Gon Jeong, Senior Research Fellow of Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, observed that there is a lot to gain from a closer community between China and ASEAN. By 2020, the East Asia CCD would also become a reality. The main economic driving force in the future is economic integration, hence high-quality and high-level free trade zones are needed. Meanwhile, Asian countries should make even greater efforts in the area of energy cooperation to ensure energy security in the region. Inter-connectivity is critical to economic activities. On the other hand, greater attention should be given to exchanges of non-governmental organizations and promoting cultural and social exchanges.

Mr. Dushni Weerakoon, Deputy Director of Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, informed that Sri Lanka was facing a lot of challenges over concerns regarding domestic and geopolitical policies, and relations with China. China is the largest source of budget support and financial aid for Sri Lanka. Some believe that the infrastructure development in Sri Lanka supported by China is not transparent, and such investments would bring more liabilities rather than foreign direct investments. These concerns to a large extent stem from the perception that Sri Lanka and China became very close in recent years. In fact, the suspension of the Colombo Port City project has greatly impacted Sri Lanka’s economy. It should be acknowledged that China is an important, and probably the most important economic partner for Sri Lanka today.

Buyankhishigiin Otgonsuren, Senior Researcher of Center of International Studies, Institute for Strategic Studies (ISS), National Security Council of Mongolia, talked about the current status of the China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor and the progress of triangular cooperation among the three countries. Triangular cooperation is going well, and the mid-term roadmap has been concluded. To strengthen cooperation under the economic corridor project, it is necessary to link up the domestic development planning of all parties. Mongolia proposed the Steppe Road Initiative in 2011. Mongolia also supports the idea of connecting the Steppe Road with the Silk Road of China. Mongolia has several advantages in this regard, including Mongolia’s geographic location, low trans-shipment cost, Mongolia’s mid-term and long-term planning frameworks for road and railway development, and the fact that Mongolia has no outstanding historical issues or any territorial disputes with its two neighbors, China and Russia. Mongolia is a safe country, where there are no threats from the so-called “three evil forces”.

Ms. Chuluungombiin Narantuya, Senior Researcher of Center for Russian Studies, Institute for Strategic Studies, National Security Council of Mongolia, observed that the primary objective of Mongolia’s foreign policy is to maintain equal, friendly and cooperative relations with China and Russia. Mongolia’s permanent neutrality has no political connotation and represents its non-alliance policy. Mongolia strives to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with all countries and regions. The Northeast Asian region, where Mongolia situates and where good development platforms also exist, has great potentials for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation among the countries concerned.

Mr. Le Kim Sa, Deputy Director of Centre for Analysis and Forecasting, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, remarked about China’s cooperation with the Greater Mekong River sub-region, and hoped that there would be no military conflicts in some of the disputed areas. In the economic sphere, China took measures to encourage economic cooperation in the Lancang River and Mekong River region, e.g. lowering tax rates. On the other hand, non-conventional security issues have brought about a great deal of pressure on China. He also commented that the Greater Mekong River sub-regional cooperation and the BRI are complementary to each other. The Greater Mekong River sub-region has a lot of potentials. It will be very helpful to evaluate the cooperative activities in this area in order to find ways to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation among the countries concerned.

Cognition of the Chinese Scholars about the Concept of Building the Economic Community

Mr. Li Wei, Senior Research Fellow and Director-General Assistant of China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, emphasized that from a long-term perspective, globalization was beneficial to all countries in the world. A fair and transparent process is a pre-requisite for increased economic cooperation in the Asia region. Ultimately all initiatives and mechanisms, despite their differences, aim to promote cooperation and development among Asian countries. To address the uneven development among Asian countries, it is necessary to transfer and maximize benefits among all countries.

Ms. Zhao Jianglin, Head of Division of International Economic Relations, National Institute of International Strategy, CASS, touched upon the concept of building of the CCD and suggested to focus on the commonalities rather than the differences, among the member countries. She stressed that member countries should be encouraged to enhance comparability and pursue common development. Furthermore, it is necessary to reduce the gaps and increase synchronization of economic development in order to maintain the desire of member countries for common development. In that regard, every effort should be made to avoid...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Series Editors
• Title
• Copyright
• Preface
• About the Authors
• Contents
• Part 1 Conceptual Exploration
• Part 2 Economic Community
• Part 3 Cultural Community
• Part 4 Security Community
• Part 5 Regional Community
• Index