China and the Developing World: Beijing's Strategy for the Twenty-First Century Review

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China and the Developing World: Beijing's Strategy for the Twenty-First Century ReviewThe "sleeping dragon" has wakened up and is becoming a major political and economic force in regional and world affairs. Chinese diplomacy is signing investment agreements, building roads, forming strategic partnerships and gaining membership in regional and international organizations. Developing Countries are the favorite target for Beijing policy, seen both as extremely important sources of energy and raw materials, and as supporters to its multilateral approach to international affairs. China's foreign policy towards the "Third World" shifted, beginning from the early `80s, from being political-ideological to pragmatic-economic aimed. Developing countries represent for China many opportunities: sources of oil and raw materials, new markets for its products and possible allies in the United Nations and in the Taiwan's issue. This book provide a broad but still precise view of the strategies and accomplishments of China's diplomacy toward the Developing World, also mentioning the challenges that Beijing will have to face in this century and the implications for U.S.
SUMMARY OF THE BOOK
The book is divided in three sections and eight chapters. The first section and chapter is an historical introduction to China's interaction with the Developing World, from the Xia Dynasty (2206-1766 BCE) to the present. Adhering to the Confucian value system, during the Imperial era Chinese leaders focused their energies and strategies internally to secure their rule also because China was generally self-sufficient in terms of natural resources. Its self-image was one of a moral, cultural and technological superior country posed at the center of the world, as its name suggests: "the Middle Kingdom". All the foreigners were considered barbarians. The first interactions with the exterior world were obviously with the surrounding strategic periphery, mostly in the west to safeguard the Silk Road. When China was dealing with internal troubles, usually during a period of dynastic consolidation or dissolution, Chinese leaders took an essentially defensive position to hold off border threats and challenges. When stronger, they attacked the nomad barbarians and expanded the strategic periphery. In this way Chinese domain tended to expand and contract throughout history, making historic nation a geographically difficult concept to define, also because Chinese identity is based on culture rather than ethnicity. What defined a periphery state autonomous or tributary related was the military strength of the barbarians.
During the Ming period (1368-1644 CE) China began to isolate itself from the wider world outside its immediate periphery, complacent of its superiority and conditioned by antimilitaristic Confucian principles. The Empire weakened both internally and externally, particularly in terms of military power, letting the European powers and Japan conquer parts of it and compelling China to sign a series of "unequal treaties" starting from the Treaty of Nanjing after its defeat in the Opium Wars (1839-1842). This period, until the end of World War II, is considered by Chinese the "century of humiliation" that fundamentally altered China's perception of any kind of self-superiority.
With Mao's victory in the civil war and the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), China opened a new phase in its external relations based on equalitarian ideology, focusing not only with U.S. and U.S.S.R. but also with underdeveloped and developing countries, supporting their struggles for independency. At the Bandung Conference in 1955, a meeting of 29 Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, Premier Zhou Enlai enshrined the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence". Mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence led to the creation of the "Non Aligned Movement" in which Third World nations refused to take one side in the bipolar international system headed by the U.S. and U.S.S.R.
In the 1960's China sponsored the Third World radicalism, sending arms, money, military instructors and economic aid to communist and independency insurgents in many African and South-Asian countries. Although gradually reentering the community of nations, replacing the Republic of China (ROC, in Taiwan) in the U.N. in 1971 and opening a new era in relations with the U.S. in 1972, China continued to promote anti-imperialist solidarity and economic aid based on ideology. In the late seventies, realized the economic catastrophe of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping reformed Chinese policies to a more market-oriented economy that is still within a rigid political framework under Communist Party control. The reforms replaced collectivization of Chinese agriculture with privatization of farmlands, increased the responsibility of local authorities and industry managers, allowed a wide variety of small-scale enterprises to flourish, and promoted foreign investment. Foreign policy was now applied according to practical considerations of economic development and technology acquisition, without regard to a nation's political system or ideology. Nonetheless China continued providing military aid to Third World nations to gain capital for internal investments, buy influence, and demonstrate its continued fealty and leadership in the developing world. Pragmatism is the today priority because the Middle Kingdom is not anymore self-sufficient and has a survivor need for raw materials and energy resources owned for the most part by the developing countries.
All this long history is very important to understand the contemporary political leaders' frame of mind, reflecting a tradition of deception and a highly developed sense of political strategy to be able to gain advantage over rivals.
The second chapter examines China's post cold war strategy in Africa. Until Mao's death the main strategy toward the continent was conditioned by national security interests and the fear of a Soviet threat to China. Local fights (in Angola for example) far from the Middle Kingdom were encouraged as a diversion to keep Moscow's forces dispersed. Africa is now a component in China's larger strategy to cultivate political support, acquire energy and natural resources, secure its commercial interests and support its claims to Taiwan. Political support to China's policies is granted by $5 billion loans over three years and $5 billion China-Africa development fund that Beijing distributed in November 2006. The United Nations is the very important forum where China enjoys the support of African nations for its "one-China" policy and they can count over its veto power on censures concerning human rights violations (Sudan i.e.). China's strategy to securing raw materials and oil supplies is to gain control of African natural resources at its source to not be menaced by market prices shocks. Beijing methods to achieve African elites' benevolence are pragmatic as organizing cultural meetings, medical cooperation, tourism, bringing African students to China, agricultural and technical assistance, investment and economic support, military patronage and peacekeeping, and diplomatic support. U.S. and China have competing interests for energy and other natural resources and divergent views on democratization and human rights, but none of them wants Africa to become a region of aggressive competition.
The third chapter is dedicated to China's emergence in Central Asia. China has strategic and diplomatic interests here that play into China's overall foreign policy, such as providing a potential alternative to the Russian dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization (a collective defense institution for many Central Asian states); establishing stronger ties with its neighbors to counter in the long term a potentially hostile United States presence on its western borders. China also seeks to safeguard the stability of borders negotiated after the fall of the U.S.S.R. and has focused on preventing any external influence and support for Uyghur separatists in Xinjiang. Chinese economic and trade interests in the region, especially the development of energy resources, are also becoming increasingly important to its internal economic development. However, the U.S. and Russia still provide the largest amount of development assistance, financial aid and security assistance in the region and the gap that China is trying to fill is still pretty wide.
Chapter four present the Chinese interests in South America, focusing over relations with Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela and control of the Panama Canal. China and Latin America have complementary economic structures. South American natural resources are vital to China's booming economy and Chinese purchases and investments will very much help economic development in the area. The Middle Kingdom looks to Latin America for supply of oil, iron ore, copper and other raw materials, along with foodstuffs such as soybeans, grain and beef meat. Chinese leaders have emphasized summit diplomacy and "win-win" relations to cultivate local support for expanding economic relations and market penetration of Chinese cheap goods. China's strategic moves and economic diplomacy will inevitably present challenges to the United States, also given that anti-Washington sentiment have increased in the region.
Chapter five explains China's interests and strategy in the Middle East and Arab countries. The main interest is obviously the stability of the region to not put in danger the extensive oil supplies. Furthermore, the M.E. and Arab world are important markets for Chinese products and services, and the Chinese government counts on the region to continue supporting the one-China policy related to Taiwan. To promote its interests, China has adopted strategies such as...Read more›China and the Developing World: Beijing's Strategy for the Twenty-First Century Overview

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