Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T12:07:53.399Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

On Becoming a Norms Maker: Chinese Foreign Policy, Norms Evolution and the Challenges of Security in Africa*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2015

Chris Alden  and
Daniel Large
Chris Alden*
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science.
Daniel Large
Affiliation:
Central European University. Email: larged@ceu.edu.
*
Email: j.c.alden@lse.ac.uk (corresponding author).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores China's engagement with the development of norms on security in Africa, with particular attention to its changing post-conflict engagement. Applying the gradualism characteristic of its approach to policy formulation and implementation, the Chinese policymaking community is playing a key role in seeking to redefine the contemporary international approach to managing African security dilemmas. By reinterpreting concepts such as liberal peacebuilding, Chinese policymakers have begun a process of reframing established norms on security and development that are more in line with its principles and core interests. This agenda in the making has enabled the Chinese government to move beyond the constraints of a rhetoric rooted in non-interference in domestic affairs that prohibited involvement in African security issues to a set of practices that allows China to play a more substantive role in security on the continent.

摘要

本文旨在探究中国在有关非洲安全事务之规范的发展领域的参与状况, 并特别关注其处于变化之中的对于后冲突阶段的参与模式。基于其在政策制定与执行方面的渐进主义特征, 中国的政策决策团体在重塑当代国际社会管理非洲安全困境之方式的过程中正在发挥十分关键的角色。通过重新解读诸如 “自由和平构建” 等概念, 中国的政策决策者已经开始了一个将国际社会既存的有关安全与发展的规范, 重新塑造成为与其自身原则与核心利益愈相一致的过程。这一正在发展中的议程, 已促使中国政府逐渐超越传统上约束其介入非洲安全事务的 “不干涉内政” 原则的限制, 而慢慢转向一套容许其在非洲大陆安全议题上发挥更为实质性的作用的实践模式。

Keywords

AfricaChinese foreign policysecuritypeacebuildingnorms非洲中国对外政策安全和平建构规范
Type
Articles
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 221 , March 2015 , pp. 123 - 142
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr Yixiao Zheng's research assistance with this article.

References

Alden, Chris, and Alves, Ana Cristina. 2008. “History and identity in the construction of China's Africa policy.” Review of African Political Economy 35(115), 43–58.Google Scholar
Alden, Chris, Large, Daniel and Soares de Oliveira, Ricardo (eds.). 2008. China Returns to Africa: A Rising Power and a Continent Embrace. London: Hurst.Google Scholar
Barakat, Sultan (ed.). 2010. After the Conflict. Reconstruction and Development in the Aftermath of War. London: I.B. Tauris.Google Scholar
Barnett, Michael. 1999. “Culture, strategy and foreign policy change: Israel's road to Oslo.” European Journal of International Relations 5(1), 5–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berdal, Mats. 2009. Building Peace after War. London: The International Institute for Strategic Studies.Google Scholar
Boutros-Ghali, Boutros. 1992. “An agenda for peace preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peace-keeping.” Report of the Secretary General pursuant to the statement adopted by the Summit Meeting of the Security Council on 31 January 1992, http://www.unrol.org/files/a_47_277.pdf.Google Scholar
Brautigam, Deborah. 2009. The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Callahan, William A., and Barabantseva, Elena (eds.). 2011. China Orders the World: Normative Soft Power and Foreign Policy. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, Ivan, Wheeler, Thomas, Attree, Larry, Butler, Dell Marie and Mariani, Bernardo. 2012. “China and conflict-affected states: between principle and pragmatism.” London: Saferworld.Google Scholar
China–Africa Think Tanks Forum. 2013. The 2nd Meeting of the China–Africa Think Tanks Forum, October 12–13, 2012, Bishoftu, Ethiopia. Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Addis Ababa University, and Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University, http://dspace.africaportal.org/jspui/bitstream/123456789/34123/1/IPSS_China-Africa_Think_Tanks_Forum_Final_(2)[1].pdf?1. Accessed 13 January 2015.Google Scholar
Deng, Francis M., Kimaro, Sadikiel, Lyons, Terrence, Rothchild, Donald and Zartman, I. William. 1996. Sovereignty as Responsibility: Conflict Management in Africa. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Dittgen, Romain, and Large, Daniel. 2012. “China's growing involvement in Chad: escaping enclosure?” South African Institute of International Affairs Occasional Paper No. 116.Google Scholar
Faria, Fernanda. 2012. “A new deal for fragile states? International engagement after Busan.” Paper presented at the Centre for International Peace Operations (ZIF), Berlin, 19 January 2012.Google Scholar
Finnemore, Martha, and Sikkink, Kathryn. 1998. “International norm dynamics and political change.” International Organization 52(4), 887–917.Google Scholar
Glaser, Bonnie S., and Medeiros, Evan S.. 2007. “The changing ecology of foreign policy making in China: the ascension and demise of the theory of ‘peaceful rise’.” The China Quarterly 190, 291–310.Google Scholar
Gong, Gerrit W. 1984. The Standard of “Civilization” in International Society. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
He, Wenping. 2008. “Cong ZhongFei guanxi kan woguo zai fazhanzhong guojia de liyi he zhanlüe” (China's interests and strategy in the developing countries from the perspective of Sino-African relations), YaFei zongheng, 3, 26–31.Google Scholar
High Level Panel on Threats. 2004. “A more secure world – our shared responsibility.” Report to the United Nations, New York, http://www.un.org/en/events/pastevents/a_more_secure_world.shtml. Accessed 14 January 2015.Google Scholar
IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development). 2011. “Cooperation with China,” 21 November, www.igad.int. Accessed 18 October 2013.Google Scholar
Jakobson, Linda. 2010. “The new foreign policy actors in China.” SIPRI Policy Paper No. 26, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.Google Scholar
Large, Daniel. 2009. “China's Sudan engagement: changing northern and southern political trajectories in peace and war.” The China Quarterly 199, 610–626.Google Scholar
Li, Dongyan. 2012. “Zhongguo canyu lianheguo weihe jianhe de qianjing yu lujing.” (The prospects and path of China's engagement in UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding). Waijiao pinglun 29, 3, 1–14.Google Scholar
Liu, Hui. 2005. “Minzuzhuyi shijiao xia de Sudan nan-bei neizhan.” (Sudan's north–south civil war from the nationalism perspective). Shijie minzu 6, 17–26.Google Scholar
Mawdsley, Emma. 2012. From Recipients to Donors: The Emerging Powers and the Changing Development Landscape. London: Zed.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayall, James, and Soares de Oliveira, Ricardo (eds.). 2011. The New Protectorates: International Tutelage and the Making of Liberal States. London: Hurst.Google Scholar
Mitter, Rana. 2003. “An uneasy engagement: Chinese ideas of global order and justice in historical perspective.” In Foot, Rosemary, Gaddis, John Lewis and Hurrell, Andrew (eds.), Order and Justice in International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 207–235.Google Scholar
Morrison, Michael. 2012. “China's foreign policy research institutes: influence on decision-making and the 5th generation Communist Party leadership.” Yale Journal of International Affairs 7(2), 77–86.Google Scholar
Murphy, Melissa. 2008 Decoding Chinese Politics: Intellectual Debates and Why They Matter. Washington, DC: CSIS.Google Scholar
Naim, Moises. 2007. “Rogue aid,” Foreign Policy, 1 March, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2007/02/14/rogue_aid. Accessed 25 November 2014.Google Scholar
OECD–DAC. 2010. Transition Financing – Building a Better Response. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
Pang, Zhongying. 2005. “China's changing attitude to UN peacekeeping.” International Peacekeeping 12(1), 87–104.Google Scholar
Pang, Zhongying. 2009. “China's non-intervention question.” Global Responsibility to Protect 1(2), 237–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paris, Roland. 2002. “International peacebuilding and the ‘mission civilisatrice’.” Review of International Studies 28, 637–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Power, Marcus, Mohan, Giles and Tan-Mullins, May. 2012. China's Resource Diplomacy in Africa: Powering Development? Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Qu, Xing. 2012. “The UN Charter, the responsibility to protect and the Syria issue.” China International Studies 2(March/April), 14–36.Google Scholar
Richmond, Oliver P., and Franks, Jason. 2009. Liberal Peace Transitions: Between Statebuilding and Peacebuilding. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Ruan, Zongze. 2012. “Fuzeren de baohu jianli geng anquan de shijie” (Responsible protection: building a safer world). Guoji wenti yanjiu 3(May/June), 9–22, http://www.ciis.org.cn/english/2012-06/15/content_5090912.htm.Google Scholar
Saunders, Phillip, and Glaser, Bonnie. 2002. “China's civilian foreign policy research institutes: evolving roles and increasing influence.” The China Quarterly 171, 597–616.Google Scholar
Shirk, Susan. 2008. China: Fragile Superpower. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Soares de Oliveira, Ricardo. 2011. “Illiberal peacebuilding in Angola.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 49(2), 287–314.Google Scholar
Strauss, Julia C. 2009. “The past in the present: historical and rhetorical lineages in China's relations with Africa.” The China Quarterly 199, 777–795.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strauss, Julia C., and Saavedra, Martha (eds.). 2009. China and Africa: Emerging Patterns in Globalization and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Su, Changhe. 2012. “Zou Zhongguo de guoji tixi jianshe daolu” (Stick to China's concept of building international system). Dangdai shijie 2, 8–13.Google Scholar
Taylor, Ian. 2009. China's New Role in Africa. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Taylor, Ian. 2011. The Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Teitt, Sarah. 2011. “The responsibility to protect and China's peacekeeping policy.” International Peacekeeping 18(3), 302–304.Google Scholar
Wang, Hongying, and Rosenau, James N.. 2009. “China and global governance.” Asian Perspective 33(3), 5–39.Google Scholar
Wang, Jisi. 2009. “Xueshu yanjiu yu zhengce yanjiu xiang tuojie de zhengjie yu chulu” (How to narrow the gap between scholarly research and policy-oriented studies in IR). Guoji zhengzhi yanjiu 3, 1–11.Google Scholar
Wang, Xuejun. 2010. “China's security cooperation with Africa under the frame of FOCAC.” Paper presented at the conference on “China, South Africa and Africa,” South African Institute of International Affairs, Zhejiang Normal University, November 2010.Google Scholar
Wang, Yizhou. 2013. “Fazhan shiying xinshidai yaoqiu de buganshe neizheng xueshuo yi Feizhou wei beijing bing yi ZhongFei guanxi wei anli de yizhong jieshuo” (Creative involvement: to develop and update a new doctrine of non-interference based on China–Africa relations). Guoji anquan yanjiu 1, 4–18.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2011. World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security, and Development, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDRS/Resources/WDR2011_Full_Text.pdf. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Wu, Zhengyu, and Taylor, Ian. 2011. “From refusal to engagement: Chinese contributions to peacekeeping in Africa.” Journal of Contemporary African Studies 29(2), 137–154.Google Scholar
Yan, Xuetong. 2011. “International leadership and norm evolution.” The Chinese Journal of International Politics 4, 233–264.Google Scholar
Yan, Xuetong. 2013. “The weakening of the unipolar configuration.” In Mark, Leonard (ed.), China 3.0. London: European Council on Foreign Relations, 112–17.Google Scholar
Yun, Sun. 2012. “March West: China's response to US balancing,” Up Front, 31 January, http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2013/01/31-china-us-sun.Google Scholar
Zhang, Yongjin. 1991. “China's entry into international society: beyond the standard of ‘civilisation’.” Review of International Studies 17(1), 3–16.Google Scholar
Zhang, Zhizhou. 2012. “Heping jueqi yu Zhongguo de guoji huayuquan zhanlüe” (Peaceful rise and China's international discourse strategy). Dangdai shijie 7, 12–17.Google Scholar
Zhao, Lei. 2007. “Wei heping er lai jiexi Zhongguo canyu Feizhou weihe xingdong” (‘For the sake of peace’: an analysis on China's peacekeeping operation in Africa). Waijiao pinglun 1, 29–36.Google Scholar
Zhao, Lei. 2011. “Two pillars of China's global peace engagement strategy: UN peacekeeping and international peacebuilding.” International Peacekeeping 18(3), 344–362.Google Scholar
Zheng, Bijian. 2005. “China's ‘peaceful rise’ to great power status.” Foreign Affairs 84(5), 18–24.Google Scholar
Zhu, Liqun. 2010. “China's foreign policy debates,” Chaillot Papers 121, http://www.iss.europa.eu/uploads/media/cp121-China_s_Foreign_Policy_Debates.pdf.Google Scholar
Zou, Keyan. 2006. “Maritime security and multilateral interactions between China and its neighbours.” In Guoguang, Wu (ed.), China Turns to Multilateralism. London: Routledge, 147–172.Google Scholar