China Says “No”

As Chinese President Hu Jintao has entered the second term of his presidency (from the end of 2007 till the end of 2012), China’s voice in the international arena has become louder.

If China previously based its foreign policy on the principle that until it achieved enough national strength China would lay low, not saying what it wanted to say, a shift to a more assertive and decisive approach to foreign policy is recently apparent.

China’s New Diplomacy-

In a phone call with U.S. President George W. Bush on December 6, the Chinese president told his U.S. counterpart, “How to deal with the Taiwan issue is the key to a stable and healthy U.S.-Chinese relation.” He further urged, “China hopes that America will make it clear that it opposes the Taiwanese authority’s recent push for a referendum on UN membership.”

Hu also made it clear that China has a different approach to the Iranian nuclear issue than the U.S., emphasizing the need for a diplomatic solution to the issue.

On November 20, the Chinese leader summoned a meeting with members of the Central Defense committee as well as other key foreign ministry officials and ordered not to allow the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk to enter Hong Kong harbor. The USS Reuben James and the Mine Countermeasures Ship USS Guardian were also subsequently rejected from entering Hong Kong harbor.

China canceled German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck’s visit to China, which was scheduled in early December as well as most scheduled meetings with Germany in a pretest to Germany’s invitation of the Tibetan spritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The recent Chinese diplomatic practices, such as warning, rejection and immediate retaliatory moves, are in a clear contrast with its previous approach.

Notable is the fact that the recent show of China’s diplomatic assertiveness was directed toward the sole superpower, the U.S., and the world’s third economic power, Germany.

In May 1999, China’s response to the U.S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia during the Balkan conflict was to issue a statement denunciating the incident. The Chinese public staged protests against the U.S., yet then Chinese President Jiang Zemin accepted the U.S. explanation that the bombing was accidental and normalized its relations with the U.S. within four months. Back then, self-scoring as well as criticism against the Chinese government mounted, arguing, “Where is the government promise to strongly protest against the U.S.?” “To the Chinese government, ‘strong protest’ simply means saying a swear word.” Yet eyeing economic development, China did not have any alternative as it could not afford to lose the U.S. market.

Growing National Strength-

What explains the growing assertiveness in its conduct of foreign relations best is China’s ever-growing national strength.

Since the opening of its doors, China’s per capita GDP saw a more than 40-times increase; 16,084 yuan last year from 381 yuan in 1978. The total GDP rose nearly 60-fold in only 29 years. This year, China’s GDP is expected to reach $3.1 trillion, ranking third in the world after the U.S. and Japan.

Hu Jintao announced “Diplomacy in the New Era” as part of his political report in the 17th Communist Party Congress held in October this year. He declared, “There has been a historical change in China’s relations with the world. While following the five principles of peaceful coexistence, China will conduct its foreign policy to achieve the aim of peaceful development.”

Arne Westad, a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said, “With its increased national strength, China will try further to enlarge its influence in the world.”

orionha@donga.com