James Char

New Trends in Chinese Foreign Policy

ABSTRACT This special issue attempts to examine some of the major new developments in China’s international relations since the 18th Party Congress in 2012. We suggest that new nuanced patterns in Chinese foreign policy have emerged. These include but are not limited to: subtle shifts in Beijing’s strategic thinking; an omni-directional peripheral policy that is increasingly “rebalancing” westwards; an evolving and more “flexible” brand of Chinese foreign policy assertiveness; a more sophisticated approach towards the handling of its maritime disputes; and new attitudes and ideas towards global governance.

Reclaiming the Party’s Control of the Gun: Bringing Civilian Authority Back in China’s Civil-Military Relations

ABSTRACT Since emerging as China’s top leader following the 18th Party Congress, Xi Jinping has moved swiftly to consolidate his formal authority as Central Military Commission chairman over the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. In redressing the civil-military imbalance wrought by Dengist economic reforms, the commander-in-chief has combined institutional mechanisms with the use of fear to impose authoritative civilian control over the military. This paper proposes that a combination of changes to the Chinese strategic environment has contributed to Xi’s utility of the anti-corruption campaign to purge the regime’s coercive forces of its previous underpinnings, and advances that the war on military malfeasance has given rise to a new set of dynamics in civil-military relations in post-Reform China.

Reshaping the People’s Liberation Army since the 18th Party Congress: Politics, Policymaking, and Professionalism

ABSTRACT Following the pivotal decision by China’s last paramount leader to change the course of China’s development in the latter years of the previous century, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has undergone profound changes that have enabled it transform itself more quickly than ever before. Under its current commander-in-chief, these developments have become more pronounced, with Xi Jinping taking a noticeably greater interest in harnessing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) coercive forces as his domestic powerbase and as a foreign policy instrument complementing his country’s hard economic assets. Following the 18th Party Congress, reforms to the PLA’s command and control functions have continued apace. It is thus timely to scrutinize the PLA’s continued efforts to further enhance its operational capabilities, in terms of both its hardware – including its hard power projection and procurement – and its heartware – the softer aspects of its development, such as its operational doctrine and military ethos. With the CCP keen to continue devoting substantial political and economic capital to strengthen the capabilities of its armed servants, the present period is a critical phase in the reshaping of the PLA into a force on par with the worlds other advanced militaries.

A New Direction in the People's Liberation Army's Emergent Strategic Thinking, Roles and Missions

The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has been undergoing a profound transformation in terms of its operational capabilities, both with regard to its hardware as well as its heartware , i.e. the softer aspects of its development including its operational culture and military ethos. These changes have permeated every facet of the PLA – technological, organizational and doctrinal. Despite successive generations of Chinese leaders having declared their adherence to “peace” and “development,” it has become clearer that Beijings security policy under Xi Jinping has shifted steadily away from “keeping a low profile.” In that regard, the status of the PLA in the domestic and international calculus of Chinas new commander-in-chief has, unsurprisingly, become more pronounced, with Xi taking noticeably greater interest in harnessing the Chinese Communist Partys coercive forces as his personal domestic powerbase and foreign policy instrument complementing Chinas hard economic power.

Aspiring to Be a Global Power: China’s Activism in the Global South

Market-oriented reforms to the Chinese economy at the end of the 1970s have had far-reaching consequences for China and the rest of the world. In the period since then, China has transformed itself from a poor country into a moderately prosperous nation, providing the attendant economic benefits to its 1.3 billion population and achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals on poverty alleviation ahead of schedule. With its growing economic clout and increasing influence in the world that continues to rise by the day, China’s global presence has unsurprisingly become a source of concern for scholars of international relations and pundits alike as the Asian giant becomes progressively engaged in the international affairs of the day. Clearly, Beijing’s pursuit of good foreign relations via a combination of hard economic and military prowess, in conjunction with soft cultural and diplomatic power, serves to strengthen its political leverage and legitimacy to challenge the extant western-led world order. An assessment of Chinese diplomatic strategy reveals a purposeful attempt at shifting the balance of power in its favor.