China's reminder ... but is the West listening?
By Benjamin A Shobert
This month, the Chinese government released a white paper with a Western
audience in mind. Published on September 6 by the State Council, the cabinet,
the paper is titled "China’s Peaceful Development". Divided into five sections
that range from China's peaceful scientific development to its peaceful foreign
relations, it aspires to communicate to the West the country's deepest desires;
in short, domestic stability empowered by economic growth.
Conversely, what does this position paper suggest China most fears? Political
instability fomented by outsiders who are unhappy with China's successful
economic growth but perceived inadequate political reform. In addition, Beijing
clearly fears the outbreak of trade hostilities and the emergence of prevailing
wisdom in the West that confronting China with a Cold War
mindset would be the best path forward. Throughout the white paper, the
Communist Party reiterates its belief that domestic stability is the sole
objective of its policies.
The structure of the white paper is no accident. In its very first section, the
government works to establish the narrative of China as a country that has been
at the wrong end of Western great power politics for a 100 years:
In
the mid-19th century, Western powers forced open China's door with gunboats.
Internal turmoil and foreign aggression gradually turned China into a
semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The country became poor and weak, and
the people suffered from wars and chaos.
This functions as an
important jumping-off point because it serves to justify China's current-day
reluctance to simply remake its government to look more like those in the West.
In Beijing's eyes, the West's intentions towards China have rarely been pure,
with too many motives to sell into, or extract from, the country. China desires
the West to meet it with an open mind, to believe that the systems Beijing is
developing are the best for China, even if they might not match American or
European ideals.
The white paper's emphasis on the "peaceful development" of China serves to
draw out the lesson that China's path forward must be one of its own choosing,
and consequently, a path that many in the West may not recognize, appreciate or
agree with.
Anticipating Western reluctance to believe in China's model, the white paper
asserts, "Through arduous struggle, the Chinese people have succeeded in
finding a path of development conforming to China's reality, the path of
socialism with Chinese characteristics." Already a familiar phrase, "socialism
with Chinese characteristics" is an interesting turn on American attempts to
cast a vision of what China will ultimately come to look like, what many
Westerners call "democracy with Chinese characteristics".
While subtle, the Chinese emphasis on their over-arching political ideology as
"socialism" versus the Western emphasis on "democracy" is a reminder to those
in the West that China's political systems are still thoroughly collectivist in
their design and objective.
Looking beyond China's shores
But what of China's foreign policy? How does its publicized desire for
"peaceful development" influence the nation's relationship with the rest of the
world?
Much of the white paper reads as a boilerplate on the matter, with statements
such as "China should develop itself through upholding world peace and
contribute to world peace through its own development ... it should work
together with other countries to build a harmonious world of durable peace and
common prosperity".
China is deeply aware that as a country it is "becoming increasingly
interdependent with other countries" and as such, its economic growth (and
social stability) are reliant on an ongoing ability to access the world's
markets. But woven throughout the white paper is the constant theme of
"stability", seen equally in matters domestic and foreign.
As a consequence of this realization, China's peaceful development means that
it must "build a framework in which its relations with other major countries
are generally stable and mutually beneficial and develop in a balanced way".
Even on the foreign policy front, the paper affirms that China's priorities are
highly ordered around domestic stability. As even China's greatest advocates
acknowledge, domestic stability exists to ensure the political stability of the
party. Westerners therefore would do well to remember that whatever their own
interests in seeing China evolve, nothing the West can offer as incentives will
come close to matching the urgency and priority the party gives to its own
domestic stability.
In this sense, China's view of foreign investment and of the role foreign
businesses operating in China is that foreign interests are to be guarded only
so long as they serve to ensure China's domestic stability. The white paper
taps a slow, steady drumbeat that to be in China means living with the priority
Beijing will continue to place on its own political viability, which it
believes is a function of economic growth and social stability.
Sections of the white paper acknowledge the relative distance China still has
to go domestically in order to ensure peaceful development. The party's
statement is quick to emphasize that "China will accelerate the building of a
harmonious society with emphasis on improving people's lives, thus
strengthening the foundation of achieving social harmony".
How will the government achieve this? Beijing, according to the white paper,
"will accelerate the reform of social systems, improve basic public services,
develop new mechanisms for social management and make such management more
efficient, and improve income distribution and the social security system."
In a proverbial nod of the head to Western critics of its seemingly stalled
political reform, the government-written white paper asserts that China is
still committed to what it calls a "socialist democracy" where people can
"control their own destiny". Achieving this will include "democratic
election[s], decision making ... supervision in accordance with the law ...
[allowing people] to express their views" and in one of the most interesting
phrases the white paper uses to allow the Chinese people to "supervise the
government".
Here again, the important caveat seems to be the emphasis the white paper
places on an "orderly public participation in the political process". As
long-time China watchers know, the emphasis on order is an important caveat
which always gives Beijing a backdoor out which it can slip, laying the blame
of further political reform at the hands of those who could not pursue reform
in an "orderly" fashion.
Towards the end of the white paper, Beijing turns its eyes towards what is one
of its greatest fears: that a deteriorating economic situation in America and
Europe is making a trade war more likely.
Arguing that it is in no one's interests to "rock the boat" regarding
globalization, China's leaders write "countries of different systems and
different types and at various development stages are in a state of mutual
dependence, with their interests intertwined".
In a surprisingly candid connection between the possibility of an economic war
and conventional conflict, the white paper states, "Another world war would be
disastrous for the whole of mankind, and no one would emerge victorious in an
all-out conflict between great big powers."
China's fear over maintaining domestic stability are the most prevalent theme
throughout the piece, but it would be an oversight to look past the very real
concerns being voiced by Beijing about how easy it could be for a deteriorating
economic situation to push countries down the path towards war.
Beijing's choice to publicly acknowledge these fears in this white paper is not
an accident, and serves to remind everyone of the high stakes involved.
Ultimately, China's peaceful development may have less to do with its own
policies but more with how the rest of the world perceives it. As such, it
should come as no surprise that this recent white paper seeks to reaffirm
Beijing's commitment to political reform and an ongoing engagement with the
global rule-set, even though China remains frustrated that this largely
reflects the needs of more developed Western countries.
The target audience of this white paper is Washington and other European
capitals, now deep into a process of questioning whether their policies of
engagement towards China are sustainable. China very much wants to be left
alone to peacefully develop, but the greater and more immediate question may be
whether the developed West can afford to let China do so.
Benjamin A Shobert is the managing director of Teleos Inc
(www.teleos-inc.com), a consulting firm dedicated to helping Asian businesses
bring innovative technologies into the North American market.
(Copyright 2011 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
