Chinese Democracy and Change in the Chinese Perspective after the Cold War - Essay Example

Introduction China was founded in 1949 and that China has always, especially over the past 20 years, observed the diplomatic thinking initiated by late Chinese leaders Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping.( Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC)China has been transformed by the economic growth that has been happening in the last couple of decades.( Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC) China has been looking forward for having a sound foreign policy and there has been growing influence of think tank that has been determining the sound foreign policy. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC)China has been seeing Latin America and in an unprecedented display of attention by the Chinese government, President Hu Jintao and Vice President Zeng Qinghong each visited the region within a two-month period in late 2004 and early 2005 showing the change in the foreign policy.( Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC) The Chinas foreign policy The China’s foreign policy has emerged as a fast moving axis of transformation and has become much more engaged in the activities of regional and multilateral organizations, and thereby shaping their agendas though in limited ways. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC)Chinese policymakers have been paying attention to a more diverse set of international issues. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC) China’s has been known for insecurity, over-confidence, entitlement mentality, and pedantic moralist no longer dominate Chinese interactions with the international community.( Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC) Chinese think tanks have been playing a vital role vital role in the collection and formulation of information, analysis, and intelligence on foreign policy issues.( Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC) There has been change in foreign affairs that has become more has pluralized, demand for regional and functional expertise has grown, and access to information has increased from the point of China.( Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC) Chinese analysts have been gathering information and events through the lenses of Mao’s three world’s theory, the inevitability of great power war thesis, and the belief that China was a revolutionary power. China’s foreign policy think-tanks have come to play increasingly important roles in Chinese foreign policy making and intelligence analysis. There has been change in the China that has been from the Mao’s China and there has been more addition to the institutes that has been covering international research and institutes, including the China Institute of International Relations and many other institutes.( Avery Goldstein,2001) Chinese foreign policy has gone profound change during the last two decade and that has bought the country closer to international mainstream. There has been relations that has been rocky with countries and the relations with USA has been rocky and the first few months of the Bush Junior presidency has been rocky with China as China has reacted angrily after it had shot down an American spy in the year 2001.( Avery Goldstein,2001)The Chinese government has been seen as resisting the efforts of international pressure to improve the human rights record. China has been improving the domestic and international economic condition in the last two decades.( Avery Goldstein,2001) After 1949 China's foreign relations became increasingly more complex as China established formal diplomatic relations with more nations, joined the United Nations (UN) and other international and regional political and economic organizations, developed ties between the Chinese Communist Party and foreign parties, and expanded trade and other economic relations with the rest of the world.( Avery Goldstein,2001) These changes had affected foreign relations in significant ways by the late 1980s.The relation with United States has been improving after the terror threats and there has been increase in the cordial relationship with neighbors especially after the Hong Kong has been taken.( Avery Goldstein,2001) The economic component of China's international relations increased dramatically from the late 1970s to the late 1980s and that has led to more change in the foreign relations. (Avery Goldstein,2001)Today more ministries and organizations are involved in foreign relations than ever before and the Chinese foreign policy community has been more experienced and better informed about the outside world than it had been previously. (Avery Goldstein,2001)Understanding the workings of a government could be difficult, when a country like China has been considered and it has been seen that the information that has been related to leadership and decision making has been kept secret.( Avery Goldstein,2001) There has been years of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), that had curtailed China’s political, economic, diplomatic, and social development, China had still managed to make a little progress in certain areas of its foreign affairs.( Avery Goldstein,2001)China had established diplomatic relations with Chile on December 15, 1970, making Chile the first South American country to recognize China. The U.S. resident Richard Nixon had made historic visit to China in February 1972, many Latin American countries began to change their attitudes toward China and expressed interest in developing relations.( Avery Goldstein,2001) The argument put forward by America about China Democracy It takes time to build democratic political institutions such as competitive political parties and independent courts. (Joseph Fewsmith, 2002)For democracy to take root, societies need to pass through a sequence of stages: from building national identity, to constructing functioning state institutions, to assuring participation in those institutions, to distributing benefits more equitably.( Joseph Fewsmith, 2002) Moreover, it takes time for the democratic values and behaviors that support those institutions to develop; each society, including China, must be allowed to find its own path to more pluralistic, participatory, and humane governance.( Joseph Fewsmith, 2002) Move too quickly, and the likely result is disorder and backsliding on democracy and human rights, both of that has been seen in post-Communist Russia.( Joseph Fewsmith, 2002) The role of the cold war There has been a change after the end of China embarked on a process of economic liberalization more than a decade before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and positive results were already evident by 1989. (Balme, Stephanie,2005)As market forces began to play an increasingly important role in China’s economic development, and as the country integrated into the global economy, the living standards of the Chinese people began to rise. China clearly understood that its economic liberalization program depended on a peaceful and stable international environment in the post–cold war era, in turn recognizing the need to adjust its foreign policy toward that end.( Balme, Stephanie,2005) There has been change in the perspective of China after the Cold War First, peace and development, not revolution and war, would increasingly become the norm.( Balme, Stephanie,2005) Second, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the bipolar international world order would be replaced by a multipolar one, with China acting as one of the most important roles.( Balme, Stephanie,2005) Third, hegemonic tendencies would continue among the most powerful nations, in particular the United States. This largely explains why today the world has one superpower the United States and a small group of other strong nations.( Balme, Stephanie,2005) The fourth most important point is that China and other developing countries would seek to unite in the struggle against an unjust world order in which the rules of the game are determined by the developed nations.( Balme, Stephanie,2005) The cold war ended shortly after the demonstration of domestic political unrest in China’s Tiananmen Square in May and June of 1989. The Tiananmen Square incident triggered an international campaign of sanctions against China led by the United States.( Balme, Stephanie,2005) The key speech of Deng Deng’s speeches in the late 1980s and early 1990s, had symbolized his thinking on China’s foreign policy priorities in the context of a changing world order.( Tanner, Murray S.2002) The key points that has put forward by Deng has been observe world events with a calm mind, stand firmly, confront difficulties with confidence, keep a low profile, never assume a leadership role and would be taking action.( Tanner, Murray S.2002) The downfall of socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in 1989 and 1990, along with the emerging challenges and uncertainties of the post cold war era, had shocked the Chinese public and generated an atmosphere of great concern about China’s future.( Tanner, Murray S.2002) Deng promoted staying the socialist course in China while continuing to move forward with economic reform. (Tanner, Murray S.2002)On the world stage, Deng insisted that China should keep a low profile and refrain from assuming any leadership roles in the developing world, although international events could at times require taking action.( Tanner, Murray S.2002) Deng’s guiding principle has become the foundation of China’s foreign policy. (Tanner, Murray S.2002)China has made remarkable economic strides; it is still a developing country and, therefore, has a long way to go before it can wield significant influence internationally.( Tanner, Murray S.2002) China has been well positioned through its size and its market size, its history, its permanent membership in the United Nations, and its nuclear capability to voice the concerns of developing nations and to demonstrate resistance to the hegemonic tendencies of the United States and other Western countries.( David Shambaugh,2002) China has established strategic partnerships with multiple countries, partnerships that have enabled China to develop bilateral relationships that has been yielding more consistent and mutually beneficial results.( David Shambaugh,2002) China has been taking more active part in regional cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries, ASEAN members, and Central Asian nations. China had regained full sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 and Macau in 1999. China has been sending peacekeeping missions to many parts of the world.( David Shambaugh,2002) China had established diplomatic relations with more than forty countries, including Israel in January 1992, Korea in August 1992, South Africa in January 1998, and Costa Rica in June 2007. China had joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, after fifteen years of negotiations and bargaining. All these had raised the China’s international profile.( David Shambaugh,2002) Conclusion Voicing the view of the United States, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick had stated the following during a bilateral dialogue in 2005: “As it becomes a major global player, we are now encouraging China to become a ‘responsible stakeholder’ that will work with the United States and others to sustain, adapt, and advance the peaceful international system that has enabled its success.”( Margaret Sleeboom-Faulkner,2007) In 2006 the CPC released a communiqué stating that “social harmony is the intrinsic nature of the socialism with Chinese characteristics and an important guarantee of the country’s prosperity, the nation’s rejuvenation, and the people’s happiness.”( Merle Goldman,2007) President Hu Jintao made a statement on world harmony. Pointing out that the new century has ushered in bright prospects for progress, Hu went on to say that, “in the critical historical period of coexistence of opportunities and challenges, all countries must unite in the effort to build a truly harmonious world with long-lasting peace and common prosperity.”( Steven F. Jackson,2006) Although economic liberalization since the Deng modernization period has yielded impressive results, the process has inevitably encountered problems along the way. (Xuanli Liao,2006)Frictions have grown between China and countries that employ antidumping regulations and other measures to restrict Chinese exports.( Xuanli Liao,2006) China views the United States as a country that uses its economic leverage to exert political pressure on China, which is one reason that China seeks to diversify its economic relationships. Latin America, with a population of more than 500 million and a $2 trillion economy, is an attractive market for Chinese products. Reference “Chairman Mao Zedong’s Theory on the Division of the Three Worlds and the Strategy of Forming an Alliance against an Opponent,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC, November 17, 2000 (www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/ziliao/3602/3604/t18008.htm Avery Goldstein,2001, “The Diplomatic Face of China’s Grand Strategy: A Rising Power’s Emerging Choice,” China Quarterly, p. 835-864. Joseph Fewsmith, 2002,“Where do Correct Ideas Come From,” in David M. Finkelstein and Maryanne Kivelhan, eds., China’s Leadership in the 21st Century, Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe, pp. 152-164. Balme, Stephanie,2005, “The Judicialisation of Politics and the Politicisation of theJudiciary in China (1978-2005)," Global Jurist Frontiers: Vol. 5: Issue. 1,Article 1, pp.100- Tanner, Murray S.2002, "Changing Windows on a Changing China: The Evolving ‘Think Tank’System and the Case of the Public Security Sector," The China Quarterly Vol.171, pp. 559-74 David Shambaugh,2002, “China's International Relations Think Tanks: Evolving Structure and Process”, The China Quarterly , Volume 171, Cambridge University Press, pp. 575-59 Margaret Sleeboom-Faulkner,2007, “Regulating Intellectual Life in China: The Case of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences”, The China Quarterly, Volume189, Cambridge University Press, pp. 83-99 Merle Goldman, 2007,“The Intellectual in the Ding Era in” China in the Era of Deng Xiaoping, M.E. Sharpe, pp. 296 Steven F. Jackson,2006, “Lessons From a Neighbour: China's Japan- Watching Community” in China and Japan: History, Trends, and Prospects, Oxford University Press, USA, pp. 155-176 Xuanli Liao,2006, Chinese foreign policy think tanks and China's policy towards Latin America, Chinese University Press, pp. 90-91 Read More