ABSTRACT
The past two decades have seen rapid change in China’s security thinking, for two significant reasons. First, the end of the Cold War decreased the possibility of direct state-to-state conflict with Beijing’s then-rivals, including the Soviet Union, with whom it had cut all political ties in the 1960s. Beijing suddenly found itself the beneficiary of a ‘peace dividend’ permitting it to focus on mending relations with many of its neighbours in the former Soviet regions, East, Southeast and South Asia. At the same time, China no longer has an interest in exporting its revolutionary thinking, a policy frequently attempted under Mao Zedong, to other developing states. Second, China’s security concerns have become much more multifaceted and now include issues which are well beyond traditional security concerns (such as border security), such as terrorism, protection of economic goods, trade security, access to resources and energy, and transnational crime. At the same time, the Taiwan question, despite its being treated as a domestic issue, retains many international dimensions. Therefore, Beijing has needed to review its grand strategy development to better fit the post-Cold War security system. Despite the increasing professionalism of the PLA, its role in crafting foreign policy in
China has not diminished significantly. Moreover, the current Chinese military is still in the process of moving beyond its limited, ideologically based ideas of ‘people’s war’ of the Maoist period. Instead it is focusing on modernisation and adaptation to modern strategic issues. Moreover, it has been frequently demonstrated that potential great powers frequently experience an expansion of their security concerns as they ‘grow’ within the international system. In the case of China, the country wishes to develop peacefully within the international system while remaining aware of various security problems which could curtail its domestic reforms. At the same time, there exists the potential for friction with other great power actors such as the United States, as China continues to transform from a regional power to an international one. Beijing has been reacting to this situation, it has been argued, in two ways. China has sought international partnerships and greater engagement with security organisations in order to underline its new status as an ‘indispensable’ partner in security areas, and it has attempted to promote itself as a responsible power not seeking to overturn the status quo and provoke other countries to align in tandem against rising Chinese power. Thus, the question of the type of role China will play in future international security will depend upon not only China itself but also others’ interpretation and reaction to its ongoing ‘rise’.
