China in World Politics

China in World Politics

That China is a global power is no longer in doubt, but how it is portraying and exercising that power is still subject for debate.  In a half-day seminar aptly themed, ‘China in World Politics’, which was jointly organized by the Confucius Institute, and Asian Studies at the University of Helsinki, scholars from China, Taiwan, Macau, and Finland discussed historical and contemporary roles of China in global politics.

In his welcome address, Mr. Gao Yuhang, First Secretary at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Finland chronicled China’s development trajectory and its relationship with Finland. For him, both Finland and China emphasized education as the basis for their sustainable economic growth. Beyond widespread education, Professor Canrong Jin of Renmin University of China opined that Chinese leaders influenced China’s transition from an under-developed to a developed nation. Mao ensured survival of China as a state, Deng Xiaoping led the drive for its economic development through industrialization, opening-up, and modernization. Now, Xi Jinping’s grand strategy is to transform China from a regional power to a global power.

The One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative is one of China’s strategies to assert its global power status, and expand its influence beyond Asia. Professor Yuan Hao of the University of Macau described OBOR as Xi Jinping’s ambitious strategic initiative to improve relations with major global powers, and ensure a peaceful neighborhood by diffusing the ‘China Threat.’ Toivo Qiu questioned China’s ability to persuade Russia to support OBOR considering that the initiative challenges Russia’s geopolitical and geo-economic interests in Eurasia.

Besides nurturing major power relations with the United States, which according to Professor Dayoung Niu, Peking University are motivated by moral and politico-economic interests, China is building strategic partnerships with the European Union (EU). The basis of China’s partnership with the EU is what Professor Xinning Song termed as the ‘Three “two” focus by President Xi Jinping, that is, two forces for global peace, two markets for world economies, and two origins of civilization. The emerging China-EU partnership is therefore more pragmatic, and according to the China Policy Paper issued in 2014, the partnership is focused on peace, growth, reform, and civilisation. Dr. Elina Sinkkonen, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, however, queried the sincerity of China in its relations with the EU considering its ‘16+1’ cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe, which she argued is leading to suspicions that China is trying to divide the EU.

Speaking on ‘Bringing back the bilateral IR back in?’ Professor Chih-yu Shih, National Taiwan University argued that contrary to claims that China’s increased involvement in multilateral relations will substitute bilateral practices, China actually preferred bilateralism rather than the United States or Europe which have a preference for multilateralism. Yet, as pointed by Teemu Naarajärvi, the notion of an ‘ideal state’ upon which Professor Chih-yu Shih based his conclusion may not stand the test in China’s relations with other global powers such as the United States where national interests form the basis of bilateral or multilateral relations.

As China’s influence and interests expand beyond its neighborhood, as pointed out by Dr. Jyrki Kallio, it continues to face the age-old dilemma of how to become accepted as a global power by other global powers. And, that remains an issue for further research and debate.

This summary is written by Dr. Obert Hodzi, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of World Cultures of the University of Helsinki.