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The Australia-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry
of New South Wales

ACCCI MONITOR FOR CHINA’S FOREIGN POLICY AND DIPLOMACY

Monitoring the Changing Nature Foreign-Policy Making, Regional Contexts, Intra-Sino Diplomacy, Bilateral Diplomacy and Global Diplomacy

Last Updated 23 March 2012

Links added since the last major update in September, October and November 2010 are marked with an asterisk.

Comments are invited on anything contained in the listed documents and suggestions for additional linked documents are encouraged.

Email to: Policy@accci.com.au

Foreign-Policy Making

Changing Nature of Foreign-Policy Making

*Yuchao Zhu, “China and International ‘Human Rights Diplomacy’”, China: An International Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2 (2011), pp. 217-245. The author describes China’s multi-tiered strategy in its human rights diplomacy, and suggests that it is becoming increasingly difficult for China to maintain its core position in protecting its sovereignty by insisting that human rights are a domestic matter. Download is available for purchase at: http://www.worldscinet.com/cij/09/0902/S0219747211000148.html.

*Associated Press, “China Replaces Senior Foreign Ministry Official”, The Washington Post, 22 December 2010. China replaced a top diplomat amid a trend toward greater assertiveness in handling territorial disputes and participating in global organizations. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/22/AR2010122200666.html?wpisrc=nl_pmheadline

*Edward Carr, "Brushwood and Gall: A Special Report on China's Place in the World", The Economist, 2 December 2010. China insists that its growing military and diplomatic clout pose no threat, but the rest of the world, and particularly America, is not so sure. Available at http://www.economist.com/node/17601499. See also: "The Dangers of a Rising China", The Economist, 2 December 2010. China and America Are Bound to be Rivals but They Do Not Have To Be Antagonists. Available at: http://www.economist.com/node/17629709. Also relevant: "In Balance", The Economist, 2 December 2010. The wealth of Asian nations depends upon China, but their security comes mainly from America. Available at: http://www.economist.com/node/17601463?story_id=17601463?fsrc=nlw|pub|12-10-2010|publishers.

Elizabeth C. Economy, “The Game Changer: Coping with China’s Foreign Policy Revolution”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 89, No. 6 (November/December 2010) pp. 142-153. The author suggests that China’s leaders now realise that fulfilling their needs at home demands a more activist global strategy and Washington must abandon old buzzwords in order to recognise China for the revolutionary power that it is. Download is available for purchase at: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/66865/elizabeth-c-economy/the-game-changer

Washington Post Editorial, “China’s Rare-Earth Power”, The Washington Post, 28 October 2010. . The editorial expresses the opinion that China’s current monopoly on the mining of rare-earth metals, and its threats to withhold exports, may be temporary as US production, which dominated the market until the late 1990s when extraction costs and environmental concerns curtailed production, is likely to recommence in the near future. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/28/AR2010102806319.html?wpisrc=nl_pmopinions.

Fan Shih-Ping, “The Effects of China’s Tourism Diplomacy and a “United Front”, China: An International Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2 (September 2010), pp. 247-281. The author notes that China’s authoritarian regime and state-owned travel agency have enabled it to exert control over the flow of outbound tourists and this has acted as a bargaining chip in diplomacy between 2008 and 2009. Available by subscription at: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/china/v008/8.2.fan.pdf.

John Pomfret, “Dispute with Japan Highlights China’s Foreign-Policy Power Struggle”, Washington Post, 24 September 2010. The increasingly bitter dispute between China and Japan over a small group of islands in the Pacific is heightening concerns in capitals across the globe over who controls China's foreign policy. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/23/AR2010092306861.html?wpisrc=nl_headline.

Stern Halper, “Beijing’s Coalition of the Willing”, Foreign Policy, July/August 2010. Pp. 100-103. Over the past decade and a half, Beijing has built a coalition of countries that can be trusted to vote China's way in an increasingly clogged alphabet soup of international fora. So far, China's strategy is working. Available at: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/21/beijings_coalition_of_the_willing.

John Pomfret, “In Chinese Admiral’s Outburst, a Lingering Distrust of US”, The Washington Post, 8 June 2010. Rear Admiral Guan Yufei of the PLA is known to be an outspoken critic of Sino-US relations, but opinion is divided as to whether he represents an anomaly or mainstream thought; Pomfret suggests the latter. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060704762.html?wpisrc=nl_pmheadline&sid=ST2010060705111.

Michael D. Swaine, “Perceptions of an Assertive China”, China Leadership Monitor No. 32 (Spring 2010). This essay examines the features of the discussion in the West, and among many Chinese, regarding the notion of a more assertive China. It attempts to answer several questions including: What are the main manifestations or expressions of Chinese assertiveness and what is driving such assertiveness, in the views of both Western and Chinese observers? Available at: http://media.hoover.org/documents/CLM32MS.pdf.

Sheng Ding, “Analysing Rising Power from the Perspective of Soft Power: A New Look at China’s Rise to the Status Quo Power”, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 19, No. 64 (March 2010), pp. 255-272. The author investigates the nature of China’s soft power concept to determine if it provides a new approach as compared to the more traditional view of revisionist power. Downloads may be purchased at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a919582838.

G. John Ikenberry, “When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order”, Foreign Affairs, November/December 2009, pp. 152-253. This is written as a review of a book with the same title as the article, by Martin Jacques (Penguin Press, 2009), in which Jacques argues that China’s inevitable impact on the world will be at least as great as that of the United States over the last century. Ikenberry takes issue with some of Jacques’ points. This review is available online only with a subscription, though some articles in the issue are free.

*Alan Hunter, “Soft Power: China on the Global Stage”, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 2, 2009, 373–398. The author does not propose to make a detailed critique of the ‘soft power’ concept, but rather to use it as a basis for evaluating aspects of China’s rise and stated commitment to peace. http://cjip.oxfordjournals.org/content/2/3/373.full.pdf+html.

Richard Ned Lebow, A Cultural Theory of International Relations, Cambridge University Press, 2009. The book represents an extension of ancient Greek thought that social order is established around a few core impulses such as “spirit, appetite and reason”, with applications to specific time periods. More information on the book is available at: http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521691888.

Bonnie S. Glaser and Evan S. Medeiros, “The Changing Ecology of Foreign Policy-Making in China: The Ascension and Demise of the Theory of Peaceful Rise’”, The China Quarterly, Vol, 190 (June 2007), 291-310. Downloads may be purchased at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?iid=1209436 .

David Shambaugh, editor, Power Shift: China and Asia’s New Dynamics, University of California Press, 2006. Additional information is available at: http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10447.php.

Stefan Stähle, “China’s Shifting Attitude towards United Nations Peacekeeping Operation”, The China Quarterly, Vol. 195 (September 2008), pp. 631-655. Downloads may be purchased at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?iid=2189820.

Injoo Sohn, “Learning to Co-operate: China’s Multilateral Approach to Asian Financial Co-operation”, The China Quarterly, Vol, 194, (June 2008(, pp. 309-326. Downloads may be purchased at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?iid=1905300.

Regional Contexts

*Michael D. Swaine and M. Taylor Fravel, “China’s Assertive Behaviour – Part Two: The Maritime Periphery”, China’s Leadership Monitor, 2011 No. 35 (September). The authors examine Chinese statements and actions with regard to China’s entire maritime periphery, from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea, with regard to both disputed and undisputed maritime territories. Available at: http://www.hoover.org/publications/china-leadership-monitor/article/.

*James Mulvenon, “Give Us Another Chance? China and the 2011 Shangri-La Dialogue”, China Leadership Monitor, 2011, No. 35 (September). This article examines Chinese strategic communications in the lead-up to the annual Asia Security Summit, often referred to as the “Dialogue” with a view to determining the implications of General Liang’s keynote speech for China relations with the US and the remainder of the region. Available at: http://www.hoover.org/publications/china-leadership-monitor/article/93616.

*Andrew Higgins, “Chinese-Funded Hydropower Project Sparks Anger in Burma”, The Washington Post, 8 November 2011. Public backlash against Chinese-funded hydropower project in Burma reveals vulnerability in China’s quest for energy. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-funded-hydropower-project-sparks-anger-in-burma/2011/10/17/gIQAGYFfxM_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines.

*Michael Evans, “Power and Paradox: Asian Geopolitics and Sino-American Relations in the 21st Century”, Orbis, Vol. 55, No. 1 (November 2011). The pattern of Asian geopolitics is examined by employing three analytical perspectives: (1) the meaning of the rise of China as an intellectual prism in East Asia, (2) the extent to which the interacting forces of geopolitics is influencing the arsenals of the three indigenous Asian giants (China, Japan and India) and (3) the future of Sino-American relations in Asia in the context of the debate over China’s ascent and the US decline. Downloads are available for purchase at: http://www.fpri.org/orbis/5501.html.

*Katrin Kinzelbach and Hatla Thelle, “Taking Human Rights to China: An Assessment of the EU’s Approach, The China Quarterly, Vol. 25 (April 2011). After examining the conduct of the human rights dialogue at the diplomatic level, expert seminars and technical cooperation projects, the authors conclude that the three-tiered set-up is not conducive to productive exchanges as the two sides are too different to attain the envisaged goals.

*Suisheng Zhao, “China’s Approaches toward Regional Cooperation in East Asia: Motivations and Calculations”, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 20, No. 68 (January 2011), pp. 53-67.

The author argues that China's participation in regional economic and security cooperation is motivated mainly by the calculation of China's domestic interests to create a peaceful peripheral environment for its economic growth and political stability, particularly its frontier security and prosperity. Downloads may be purchases at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a930923738~frm=abslink

Adams Bodomo, “The African Trading Community in Guangzhou: An Emerging Bridge for Africa-China Relations”, The China Quarterly, Vol. 203 (September 2010), pp. 693-707. This article analyses an emerging African trading community in Guangzhou, China and argues that migrant communities such as this one act as linguistic, cultural and economic bridges between their source communities and their host communities, even in the midst of tensions created by incidents such as immigration restrictions and irregularities. Available for purchase at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7907533&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0305741010000664.

Jeremy Youde, “China’s Health Diplomacy in Africa”, China: An International Journal, Vol, 8, No. 1 (March 2010). pp. 151-163. In recent years, Africa has regained a level of prominence in China's overall foreign policy strategy, and health diplomacy is helping to pave the way for Chinese oil companies to win mining rights for oil, platinum and other natural resources. Available to subscribers at: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/china/v008/8.1.youde.pdf.

“The Colombo Consensus: Brotherly Love, Massive Aid and No Questions Asked”, The Economist, 8 July 2010. Available at: http://www.economist.com/node/16542629?story_id=16542629.

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Li Mingjiang, “Security in the South China Sea: China’s Balancing Act and New Regional Dynamics, RSIS Working Paper No. 149 (February 2008). Online copy available at: http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/WorkingPapers/WP149.pdf.

Li Mingjiang, “Soft Power in Chinese Discourse: Popularity and Prospect”, RSIS Working Paper No. 165 (September 2008). Online copy available at: http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/WorkingPapers/WP165.pdf.

Li Mingjiang, “China and Asian Regionalism: Pragmatism Hinders Leadership”, RSIS Working Paper No. 179 (May 2009). Online copy available at: http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/WorkingPapers/WP179.pdf.

Ralf Emmers, The Changing Power Distribution in the South China Sea: Implications for Conflict Management and Avoidance”, RSIS Working Paper No. 183 (September 2009). Online copy is available at: http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/WorkingPapers/WP183.pdf.

Thomas Lum, Wayne M. Morrison and Bruce Vaughn, “China’s ‘Soft Policy’ in Southeast Asia”, Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, 4 January 2008. Online copy is available through the Commonwealth Institute at: www.comw.org/cmp/fulltext/context.html.

Congressional Research Service, “China’s Foreign Policy and ‘Soft Power’ in South America, Asia and Africa”, a study prepared for the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate. Online copy is available at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/.

Dilip K. Das, “A Chinese Renaissance in an Unremittingly Integrating Asian Economy”, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 18, Issue 59 (March 2009), pp. 321-338. Downloads may be purchased at:

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g908174333.

Hidetaka Yoshimatsu, “The Rise of China and the Vision for an East Asian Community”, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 18, Issue 62 (November 2009), pp. 745-765. Downloads may be purchased at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g916765323.

Ren Xiao, “Between Adapting and Shaping: China’s Role in Asian Regional Cooperation”, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol, 18, Issue 59 (March 2009). Downloads may be purchased at:

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g908174333.

Julie Gilson, “Strategic Regionalism in East Asia”, Review of International Studies, Vol. 33, Issue 1 (January 2007), pp. 145-163. Downloads may be purchased at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=RIS&volumeId=33&issueId=01&iid=660064.

Robert I. Rotbert, editor, China Into Africa: Trade, Aid and Influence, Brookings Institution Press, 2008. More information is available at: http://www.brookings.edu/press/Books/2008/chinaintoafrica.aspx.

R. Evan Ellis, China in Latin America: The Whats and Wherefores, Lynne Rienner, 2009. More information is available at: http://www.rienner.com/title/China_in_Latin_America_The_Whats_and_Wherefores.

Hak Yin Li and Yongnian Zheng, “Re-Interpreting China’s Non-Intervention Policy towards Myanmar: Leverage, Interest and Intervention”, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 16, Issue 61 (September 2009), pp. 617-637. Downloads may be purchased at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g913868771.

Intra-Sino Diplomacy

Wai-Man Lam, “Promoting Hybridity: The Politics of the New Macau Identity”, The China Quarterly, Vol. 203 (September 2010), pp. 656-674. Lam traces the unique process of reconstructing the identity of the Macau Special Administrative Region and concluded that the multiple identity components were deliberately promoted contributed significantly to the relatively smooth reintegration with China. Available for purchase at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7907527&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0305741010000640.

Alan D. Romberg, “2010: The Winter of PRC Discontent”, China Leadership Monitor No. 3, (Winter 2010) from the Hoover Institution, The article is devoted principally to an examination of the US-Taiwan arms sales issues and the reactions of the PRC, but other PRC-Taiwan-United States issues are examined briefly. Available at: http://media.hoover.org/documents/CLM31AR.pdf.

Bruce Gilley, “Not So Dire Straits”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 89, No. 1 (Jan/Feb 2010), pp. 44-60. The author comments on the closer economic and political embrace of the PRC and Taiwan – a process that accelerated with the election of the pro-détente politician Ma Ying-jeou as Taiwan’s president in 2008. Downloads may be purchased at: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65901/bruce-gilley/not-so-dire-straits.

Wu-ueh Chang and Chien-min Chao, “Managing Stability in the Taiwan Strait: Non-Military Policy towards Taiwan under Hu Jintao”, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, Vol. 38, No. 3 (2009) pp. 99-118. Available at: http://econpapers.repec.org/article/gigchaktu/v_3a38_3ay_3a2009_3ai_3a3_3ap_3a99-118.htm

Bilateral Diplomacy

Bilateral Diplomacy (including informal groupings)

*John J. Mearsheimer, “The Gathering Storm: China’s Challenge to US Power in Asia”, The Chinese Journal of International Politics”, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Winter 2010), pp. 381-396. This is a revised version of the annual Michael Hintze Lecture delivered at the University of Sydney on 4 August 2010 with the author’s view of likely scenarios for China’s rise to regional dominance in Asia. Available at: http://cjip.oxfordjournals.org/content/3/4/381.extract. Note that 10 similar papers are published by The Chinese Journal of International Politics with the collected title of “Rethinking China’s Rise”. The collection appears in three parts: (1) China’s Rising Power Status, (2) Responses to China’s Rise and (3) Debating China’s Peaceful Rise. All are available at: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/cjip/reader.html.

Michael D. Swaine, “China and the AfPak Issue” China Leadership Monitor No. 3 (Winter 2010) from the Hoover Institution. AfPak refers specifically to the US strategy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan. The articles offers an analysis of the interests and motives of the Chinese government on the issue and concludes with some speculations on whether and how China’s stance might be modified to lend greater support to the Obama strategy. Available at: http://media.hoover.org/documents/CLM31MS.pdf.

Jonathan Holslag, The Strategic Dissonance Between Europe and China”, The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 3, No. 3 (August 2010), pp. 325-345. The main argument of this article is that Europe’s posturing as a liberal normative power has resulted in a strategic disconnect with China, which largely adheres to state-centric policies. Available at: http://cjip.oxfordjournals.org/content/3/3/325.extract.

Mingjiang Li, “China-EU Relations: Strategic Partnership at a Crossroads”, China: An International Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2 (September 1009), pp. 227-254. The author examines key factors that have shaped the increasingly fluid and unpredictable China-EU relations and outlines some of the negative trends that have emerged in China’s bilateral relations recent years. Downloads may be purchased at: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/china/v007/7.2.li.pdf.

Emily Wax, “As Ties between India and China Grow, So Does Mistrust: Recent Border Incidents Test Partnership in Trade, Climate Change”, The Washington Post, 14 December 2009. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/13/AR2009121302527.html?nav=emailpage.

Jeffrey J. Schott, “America, Europe and the New Trade Order”, Business and Politics, Vol. 11, Issue 3, Article 1, (2009). This relates to the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) grouping. Downloads may be purchased at: http://www.bepress.com/bap/vol11/iss3/art.

Fred C. Bergsten, “Partnership of Equals, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 87, Issue 4 (July/August 2008), pp. 57-69. The essay discussed China-US bilateral relations. Downloads may be purchased at: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/64448/c-fred-bergsten/a-partnership-of-equals.

Mark Beeson, :Hegemonic Transition in East Asia? The Dynamics of Chinese and American Power”, Review of International Studies, Vol. 33, Issue 1 (January 2009), pp. 95-112. Online copies may be obtained at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=RIS&volumeId=35&issueId=01&iid=3291780#.

Bobo Lo, Axis of Convenience: Moscow, Beijing and the New Geopolitics, Brookings Institution Press, 2008. More information is available at: http://www.brookings.edu/press/Books/2008/axisofconvenience.aspx. A comprehensive review of the book appeared in Foreign Affairs (September/October 2009) by Stephan Kotkin. This is not available online, except through libraries.

Global Diplomacy

Global Diplomacy

*Heriberto Araujo and Juan Pablo Cardenal, “China International’, Foreign Policy, March/April 2011. This is a photo essay prepared by the two journalists with a team of photographers showing images of China’s worldwide influence in 24 countries from logging camps in Mozambique to gold mines in Burma. Available at: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/22/china_international.

*Gary J. Bass, “Human Rights Last”, Foreign Policy, March/April 2011. The author notes that China’s diplomats have the ear of the world’s bad guys. So what are they telling them? Available at: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/22/human_rights_last.

*Allen Carlson, “Moving Beyond Sovereignty? A Brief Consideration of Recent Changes in China’s Approach to International Order and the Emergence of the tianzia concept”, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 20, No. 68 (January 2011), pp. 89-102. China maintains a pragmatic emphasis on sovereignty as a core position, but the tianxia (all-under-heaven) concept has emerged as a new reference point for some Chinese deliberations othe normative structure of international relations. Downloads may be purchases at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a930899483~fulltext=713240930~frm=content.

*Xiaojun Li, “Social Rewards and Socialisation Effects: An Alternative Explanation for the Motivation Behind China’s Participation in International Institutions”, The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 3, No. 3 (August 2010), pp. 347-377. The author examines the question as to what, in the absence of material motivations, drives countries into international cooperation by focusing on the socialising effects of international institutions. Available at: http://cjip.oxfordjournals.org/content/3/3/347.extract.

“Views of China”, Chapter 5 of Obama More Popular Abroad Than at Home, Global Image of US. Continues to Benefit, Pew Global Attitudes Project, Pew Research Centre, 17 June 2010. The main focus of this 172 page document is global opinions of the US and of President Obama, but it also includes “favourability ratings” of China, based on 21 selected countries, and presents indications as to whether China is perceived to be more of a partner or more of an enemy. Available at: http://pewglobal.org/2010/06/17/obama-more-popular-abroad-than-at-home/6/#chapter-5-views-of-china.

Brantly Womack, “China between Region and World”, The China Journal, No. 61 (January 2009), pp. 1-22. The essay considers the pressures that influence China’s interaction with the world in terms of China as a single region-state, a multi-regional power and a global presence. Information about the journal is available at: http://rspas.anu.edu.au/ccc/home.htm.

David M. Lampton, “The United States and China in the Age of Obama: Looking Each Other Straight in the Eyes”, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 18, Issue 62 (November 2009), pp. 703-727. Downloads may be purchased at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g916765323.

Jing Chen, “”Explaining the Change in China’s Attitude toward UN Peacekeeping: A Norm Change Perspective”, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol, 18, Issue 58 (January 2009), pp. 157-173. Downloads may be purchased at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g906444423.

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