China’s Aid to Africa:Characteristics,Its Role and Challenges ahead

Started from 1956,China’s aid to Africa has been playing a very significant role for strengthening Sino-African ties as a whole.Generally speaking,take "the reform and opening-up" policy started from late 1970s as a line of demarcation,China’s aid policy to Africa can be divided into two periods in the half century.The driving force of China’s aid policy before the line was to strengthen the diplomatic and political ties with African countries.The focus of China’s aid policy after the line is to seek mutual economic cooperation and common development.Comparing with the Western approaches,the major characteristics of China’s aid policy to Africa are mainly three:the aid is provided with no strings attached,and emphasizing on bilateral aid projects rather than multilateral system,strong focus on "hardware projects" such as physical infrastructure construction rather than "software projects" like research and capacity building.In general,China’s aid to Africa has generated effective results and helped a lot for China’s involvement in Africa.However,it is also facing new challenges at the moment and future.     

Africa's Perspectives on China-Africa Relations and Forum on China-Africa Cooperation(FOCAC)

China is in Africa in a vigorous way,and doing business in several countries like Sudan,Congo DRC,Angola,South Africa,and Nigeria.In the short term,the relationship may appear to be mutually beneficial.This paper seeks to address the issue of Africa's perspectives on China-Africa Relations and the FOCAC and examine the concept of strategic partnerships,determine the state of China-Africa relations,examines FOCAC and draw conclusion as well as recommendation on possible ways and issues for future engageme...     

Notes for Contributors

<正>Global Review is a bilingual(Chinese and English) bimonthly in IR category,the first of the kind in China,published by SIIS and the co-publisher Shanghai Association of International Relations.We invite contributions submitted by Chinese as well as foreign scholars and practitioners that bearing on the subjects of building Chinese IR theories and policy proposals for China's foreign strategy and foreign policy.A column"Overseas essays"is so designed to carry foreign experts' articles in English or in Chinese.     

Clean Energy Development and China’s Climate Change Bargaining Position:Industry Policy,Innovation and Business Power

<正>This paper analyses developments in China's climate change diplomacy from the perspective of business power and conflict theory.It does so by:(i) accounting for the processes of clean energy industry policy and development in China;(ii) introducing the concept of business power and placing it in the context of climate change;(iii) applying the business power concept to China explore how the development of clean energy industry is expanding China's policy options and changing its bargaining position;and(iv) taking stock of developments thus far and assessing future prospects.It will thereby test both the theoretical proposition that the business power concept is applicable to the Chinese situation,and the empirical proposition that the ongoing development of the national clean energy sector is crucial to China's bargaining position at the international level.     

Toward a New Decade:Research on the Sustainable Development of FOCAC

FOCAC is a successful and pioneering cooperation model jointly explored by China and Africa.The Forum has become an important platform for facilitating China-Africa relations since its founding 10 years ago.Within this framework the two sides have achieved great accomplishment through cooperation,and have created new development areas.Currently,the international system is experiencing deep adjustments,and the international political,economic and security situation is becoming increasingly complicated.Within such a context,the Forum continues to embrace new development opportunities as well as face new challenges.This paper will evaluate the achievements and the experiences of the Forum,and offer some proposals on promoting the sustainable development of FOCAC within the new context.     

Redefining a U.S.Strategy toward China:Smart Policy and its Implications

The redefinition of the U.S.policy toward China since Barack Obama’s election has been based on a compromise between elements of hard power(military,economy) and soft power(influence,dialogue,persuasion).This new posture has been defined by several experts and policymakers as a"smart policy".However,considering the rise of China and its implications both at economic and political levels,what is the real margin of Washington in its relation with Beijing,and what are the long term implications of the smart policy? If the China policy is a priority for the Obama administration,the challenges for Washington are particularly sensitive, considering the consequences of a failure in implementing comprehensive China-U.S.relations.     

New Development in Global Politics and Rethinking on China’s Multilateral Diplomacy

The new developments in global politics exert three systemic impacts on international relations. Global issues, vital to the survival of mankind, rise to the top agenda of national governments. The epicenter of global power is shifting from U.S. and Europe to the rest of the regions. The global "political excitement and zeal" is rolling on. All exact more on the competence of global governance. The current international multilateral mechanisms are in "competence deficit", worsening either in terms of adequacy, validity or legitimacy. The call for the reform of it is ever soaring. China by the way is at once engaging in the multilateral diplomacy transforming the international system and facing the growing pressure of assuming "leadership" and "international responsibility". China needs to continuously adapt to the changed national identity in the multilateral diplomacy, to reconcile the multilateral mechanisms that deal with regions and domains in China’s strategic planning and laying-out, to organically associate the short-term and long-term goals and to upgrade the concept of harmonious world in the practice of multilateral diplomacy.     

Abstracts

European and U.S. Responses to China＇s Rise： Theory, Strategy, and Interaction
ZHAO Huaipu ＆ WANG Zhenling
In recent years, whether China can rise peacefully has been a central topic in the policy-making circles and academia of Europe and the United States. IR theorists of different schools have analyzed this topic through their respective paradigmatic prisms, and offered their suggestions on how to respond to China＇s rise. Theoretical debates have influenced and even guided the formulation of EU and American strategies on China＇s rise, as the elements of power, institution, culture and international community are all embedded in their specific strategies and policy responses. However, due to differences in their behavior, values, and soft and hard powers, they differ in the combination of theoretical elements in their strategies. As a result, even though the U.S. and the EU have similar goals regarding China＇s rise, their approaches are very different. With new changes in the international situation in the past few years, the EU and the U.S. have strengthened their interaction and coordination in their responses to China＇s rise. But because of insufficient hard power on the part of the EU and the differences in transatlantic Asia strategies, cooperation on their China strategies is still limited. China should support and push for stronger trilateral interaction and coordination, as this will help lessen joint pressure from the two and enhance China＇s influence in the international system.     

国际经济体系与地缘政治:金融危机及其影响

Global financial crisis is ongoing. The crisis has not only impacted the mode of the world economy that further called for reform of international economic system, but also exerted far-reaching impact on the transformation of the international political system and geopolitics. China, undergoing a critical period of reform anddevelopment, is obliged to probe the essence of the crisis and its prospective impacts, to discern the direction of the transforming international political system and geopolitics, and ...     

Challenges and Opportunities for China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership——from the Perspective of Different Ideas inside the EU on the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

Although the EU President Van Rompuy expresses the belief that the EU-China strategic partnership and the people-to-people friendship will continue to flourish,more and more European intellectuals express their doubts about the strategic partnerships of EU-China relations.The reasons for the doubts are firstly European scholars place more emphasis on the differences between China and EU in ideology and political system;secondly,they believe that the establishment of the strategic partnership between China and EU was the result of EU and its Member States having implemented an "unconditional engagement" with China;thirdly,a series of differences between China and the EU on issues like trade,Africa,climate change in recent years.However the different ideas towards China EU strategic partnership have caused the partnership to face challenges as well as significant opportunities for development.     

Abstracts

＂Symbiosis of International Society＂ and IR Theory of Peace and Development
Symbiosis of international society is a proposition universally valid and impeccable. Both the two world wars and the general crisis occurred in the first half of the last century indicated that the change of lR theory was at the turning point of history and that the proposition of symbiosis of international society would inevitably replace the proposition of international anarchism, though it r has not been realized to date unfortunately. The post-war development of international society has all the more offered ample resources for establishing the leading position of the symbiosis o f international society in 1R research. By virtue of the momentum, it is the time to boost the Chinese traditional culture and Chinese wisdom of harmonious philosophy in the scientific explanation of the symbiosis of international society, which is particularly necessary for creating the IR theory of peace and development, sticking to the road of peace and development and contributing to the construction of a lasting peace, co-prosperity and harmonious world.     

Abstracts

In recent years, the strategic values of the Arctic are increasingly recognized by the international community. The development of the Arctic is becoming the focus of interested parties. The sense and mechanism of cooperation among Arctic states themselves, as well as between Arctic and non-Arctic states, are gradually improving. However, contradictions and conflicts among related parties are not easy to eliminate. The role and influence of multilateral cooperation mechanism, such as the Arctic Council, is significantly enhanced. The Arctic Economic Council is to be established. Taking into consideration the above trends of the Arctic, the author puts forward his suggestions on China＇s participation in Arctic affairs. First, view opportunities and challenges that China faces regarding its participation in Arctic affairs in a rational and objective way, stick to the status of ＂near-Arctic State＂ and Arctic stake-holder as well as ＂Three Adherence＂ in Arctic affairs. Second, continue to establish and improve bilateral and multilateral platforms for Arctic cooperation, make good use of accredited observer status in the Arctic Council to involve deeply in Arctic cooperation and enhance Arctic scientific research. Third, formulate comprehensive and systematic Arctic policy, promote Arctic public diplomacy. Lastly, participate in Arctic developments in a cautious and trustworthy way, and make contributions to the peace, stability and sustainable development of the Arctic.     

The Soft Power of India Viewed from Its Economic Reform

India’s economic reform started from the realm of finance, which is within the category of soft power of a country. The wax and wane of the overall power of a country is largely determined by the interplay of hard and soft pwers in question. India’s soft power has its own characteristics and advantages, which chiefly manifest in its culture, parliamentary democracy, education and finance. In the 21st century, these advantages will continue to have significant play.     

China’s Public Relations and Soft-power

China’s foreign strategy and foreign policy have changed tremendously. China began to build up soft-power of national culture and embark on public diplomacy, which aimed at: 1, increasingly exposing China to the world in terms of the state of affairs, policies and values, 2, creating a more objective and amicable milieu of opinions and 3, enhancing China’s international image. The author offers her personal perspectives on how to handle relations between pursuing public relations and building up national soft-power, how to advance national soft-power by public relations and the need to obviate ideological barriers.     

Abstracts

Seize and Exploit the Important Strategic Opportunity of China＇s, Development
The period of the ＂12th Five Year Plan＂ is key to China＇s effort to build the all-round well-off society, to deepen reform and opening-up, and to accelerate the transformation of the mode of economic development. By analyzing the new changes of the situation home and abroad, the CPC Central Committee has made two judgments： ＂China is still dwelling in the period of important strategic opportunity＂ and ＂China is facing both precious historic opportunities and challenges both predictable and unpredictable＂.     

Abstracts

Strategic Adjustment of China＇s Diplomacy at a New Starting Point YANG Jiemian For more than one year after taking office, China＇s new leadership has largely inherited and continued the diplomatic strategy of its predecessor. On the other hand, given China＇s growing comprehensive national strength, increasing international challenges, and change of governments in the world including China, it has adjusted and enriched the substance of the strategy in a distinctive way. For example, the new leadership has specified strategic self-identification, updated strategic thinking, kept strategic composure, strengthened strategic initiative and planning, and developed strategic theories. China＇s diplomatic strategy requires further adjustment for the next decade to enhance theoretical innovation and execution, China＇s diplomacy will be conducted in a more active, pragmatic, and effective way and will thrive in meeting challenges and overcoming difficulties. China＇s strategic diplomacy needs to reflect the vision and logic of a rising global power, strengthen strategic construction based on practice and experience by further adjusting strategic objectives, building strategic cooperation networks, and deepening strategic theoretic studies. China＇s diplomatic strategy requires perspectives that are all-dimensional, diversified, and transcends space and time. It needs to take into account the changing and interacting internal and external environments to further consolidate and deepen domestic support. Finally, academic circles of IR and diplomatic studies should be driven by an acute and urgent sense of calling to construct and develop China＇s strategies within the diplomatic theoretical system with Chinese characteristics to enrich the variety of public goods provided by China to the international community.     

The Strategic Re-view of China’s Territorial Sovereignty

This paper re-examines the status quo of China’s territorial sovereignty security from a strategic perspective.Territory is the most basic physical where-about for a country to express national sovereignty.It is the territory that the national sovereignty derives its physical basis from.In the context of globalization,however, the traditional national territorial sovereignty space is continually squeezed and constrained,but the national territorial sovereignty is still the cornerstone of the international relations.And the inviolability of national territorial sovereignty is still the most important principle of modern international law.In this regard,the primary goal of Chinese national security today remains as a goal to safeguard the unification,integrity and security of China’s territorial sovereignty.At present,the integrity,unification and security of Chinese national territorial sovereignty have yet to be achieved on the strategic level.As one of China’s basic national conditions,it should be taken seriously and paid adequate strategic attentions.     

The trend of relations between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean from the perspective of Bi-regional Summits

<正>Nowadays,multilateral consultative mechanism is gradually becoming a mainstream approach in the contemporary international system.As one of the most important international collective player,the European Union(EU) has been engaging in multilateral cooperation and consultation since its inception.It has also been promoting a plural world through advocacy and action.The EU and the Latin America/Caribbean(LAC) Countries summits are considered a stability mechanism for promoting bi-regional dialogues.Nevertheless,after 10 years of bi-regional strategic partnership construction,the EU and LAC relations are currently experiencing a difficult phase,suggesting it is time to reform.The purpose of this paper is to analyze the advantages as well as the challenges to EU-LAC relations from the perspective of bi-regional summits,and to assess the short-term trend of their relations in the near future     

On the Features of Contemporary Regrouping of International Forces

<正>The co-relation of international forces is evolving in favor of developing countries with emerging powers as their representatives,which is unprecedentedly shaking the Western powers' dominance of world affairs.The regrouping of international forces is forming the Four Groups of gaining,defending,losing and weakening forces.The Four Groups are coping with the global problems on their respective and common positions,greatly enriching the connotation of peace and development with contemporary dimension,and giving historical task of building international system to regional and sub-regional cooperation.Although the Four Groups are still in dynamic development with proper adjustments of formation within and between themselves with different issues and at different times,the emerging powers are gaining on as world trends.While on the road towards a global power,China needs to take Emerging Powers as its strategic backup and strive for greater rights of discourse and leading roles.However,the international society should be fully prepared both intellectually and physically for the prolonged,complicated and uneven processes of regrouping of international forces and the transforming of international system in the context of peaceful conditions.     

A New Posture of International Arms Control and Disarmament

About one year on,international arms control and disarmament appeared to be rebounding to become an issue of great international attention,paralleling the issues of financial crisis and climate change.International nuclear disarmament re-dawned with high profile readjustments by the United States in its nuclear arms control policy and tactics.The US and Russia signed a new agreement of bilateral nuclear disarmament.Multilateral nuclear arms control has also softened,and the nuclear security issue loomed large.The Conference on the Review of Nuclear Non-proliferation was held,the main illustration of the adjustment by the US to its arms control policy and tactics.On balance,however,the US arms control and disarmament policies remain largely rhetorical,as its two strategic objectives of nuclear weapon policy--nuclear deterrence and non-proliferation--has been kept intact,and even intensified.