Hongzhou Zhang

Food in China's international relations

Abstract Food is a tireless referent in international relations studies about China and its ties with the rest of the world. This paper addresses two contemporary issues. First, why is China so sensitive about grain self-sufficiency? Second, why does there seem to be a lack of effective dialogue between epistemic communities in China and outside over Chinas overseas agricultural activities? The first part of the paper reviews the development of Chinas agricultural sector and underlines the importance of Chinas contribution in stabilizing the world food markets. Next, it explores the ideational sources of Chinese food insecurity, in spite of its success in attaining high levels of self-sufficiency in grain. The third part of the paper reviews the evolution of Chinas overseas agricultural activities and analyzes the factors that contribute to a mismatch of understanding about the political implications therein. The paper concludes by proposing a couple of conceptual road maps for securitizing food as a referent in debates about Chinas security environment and Chinese international relations.

Building the Silk Road Economic Belt: Challenges in Central Asia

Central Asia occupies the centrepiece of China’s Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative. Yet, reviving the Silk Road in Central Asia will not be easy and the geopolitical challenges will be the biggest hurdle to building the SREB in the region. The idea of Central Asia as a regional grouping in political and security terms is almost non-existent and Central Asian countries remain widely divided with serious internal conflicts caused by unresolved boundary, water and energy disputes, regional rivalry, deep mistrust and differences in political, diplomatic and security policies. Also, there is an on-going big power game in Central Asia. In recent years, while better trade and investment ties with all five Central Asian countries boosted China’s economic influence in Central Asia, China is still far from being a dominant force in Central Asian affairs because of the influence of Russia and, to a lesser extent, the United States. In the near to medium term, China still cannot compete with Russia which had a significant head start in the region. Regarding reactions towards China’s SREB, Central Asian countries seem to have mixed feelings. On the one hand, they generally welcome more Chinese investment while on the other, some express anxiety and concerns with China’s rapid expansion in the region. This is partly attributed to lack of a clear time table and detailed roadmap for constructing SREB and partly due to the complicated political and social dynamics in Central Asia. Thus, the success of the SREB will have to start with a better understanding of the political and economic dynamics in Central Asia.

China's Marine Fishery and Global Ocean Governance

This paper first examines two most significant structural shifts in Chinas marine fishery sector in the past decades, namely, expanding outward and going after high market value species. It then explains how domestic policies and development strategies have shaped the trajectory of Chinas marine fishery sector, and analyzes the obstacles rooted in both domestic socio-political settings and global governance that have impeded policy reform and effective enforcement in China to ensure marine sustainability and international cooperation. Lastly, the paper explores possible options for transnational advocacy actors that are concerned with the global impact of Chinas growing fisheries.

Fishing for Food

With limited land and water resources, China attaches great importance to the development of fishery sector in safeguarding the country’s food security. This chapter examines how the “blue granary” or the marine-based food security strategy has affected China’s fisheries sectors and its global implications. This chapter finds that food security has been the key driver for two key structural changes that are taking place in China’s fishery sector, including the rapid growth of the aquaculture and outward expansion of the marine fishery sector. As China launches its new round of reform efforts to control domestic fishery sector, the country’s rising demand for fishery products will also increasingly be met through imports. Growing consumption and shifting trade position of China will have far-reaching consequences for global fishery trade and fisheries production.

A process-based framework to examine China’s approach to transboundary water management

ABSTRACT As China emerges as a regional and global power and its interest in utilizing the transboundary water resources within its borders continues to grow, a better understanding of China’s policies and practices towards transboundary waters is of critical importance. Scholars have explored various approaches to the study of this subject, including the legal perspective, the socioeconomic-environmental lens, the foreign relations/neighbourhood diplomacy angle, and international relations theories. Each approach has its merits and weaknesses. On the basis of all the existing analytical studies, this article proposes a process-based framework to study China’s policies towards transboundary water management.

China’s flexible overseas food strategy: food trade and agricultural investment between Southeast Asia and China in 1990–2015

ABSTRACT Using the UN Comtrade database and multiple sources of agricultural investment data, this paper outlines the emerging patterns of food trade and agricultural investment between Southeast Asian countries and China. The paper shows that China has adopted a flexible overseas food strategy. First, China has increased food export and shifted its food trade with Southeast Asia from a dependent relationship towards a complementary relationship at the regional level in recent years. Second, China tends to adapt to the existing conditions of food production and trade in Southeast Asian countries instead of fundamentally altering them. Finally, Chinese overseas agricultural investment is less driven by domestic food demand but more oriented for profit making, and this gives it flexibility in diversifying investment. An adequate understanding of China’s flexible food strategy in bilateral and multilateral relationships holds implications for global food security.

China and Transboundary Water Politics in Asia

Management of the freshwater resources has been a global challenge, especially for transboundary river waters (TBW). Management of such communal goods or common resources becomes difficult as the interests of the diverse stakeholders involved will always vary. The assumption that the basin actors will share a common understanding and sympathy towards the issues associated with the basin, cannot be held as true. Only rarely there will be common characteristics present among the knowledge and information shared with the stakeholders regarding the crisis associated with TBW basins. In fact, the various case studies conducted on this discourse show that different regions along the boundary will have diverse level of interplay in the political dimension as well as during the stage of actual resource management (Adams, Brockington, Dyson, & Vira, 2003). The final consequence of water sharing amongst the riparian nations and the level of management success will rely on the dynamics of the level of influence that are at play at the national, regional, and international positions in the region. Therefore, the management of TBW that cut across national, political, social, economic, and sectoral boundaries is regarded as one of the supreme security challenges of the decade (Wouters & Ziganshina, 2011). This is because as rivers cross borders, their flows are diverted, dammed, or stored by national governments for multiple purposes.

Singapore’s South China Sea policy: implications for freedom and safety of navigation

Abstract: As a non-claimant state in the South China Sea dispute,Singapore has shown great interest in the evolution and handling of the regional hotspot issue. Singapore’s policy towards the South China Sea issue has been fairly consistent in the past decades. One particular area of concern for Singapore has been the freedom and safety of navigation. Singapore has also done quite a lot to enhance maritime security in the region. Many of the proposals and programs that Singapore has supported could be taken more seriously in order to further improve maritime security in East Asia.