How Xi Jinping's China is gearing up for a greater global role
Parsing the outcomes of the “Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs”, to give it its full name, may not sound an entirely appealing endeavour. But the two-day gathering of top Chinese Communist Party (CPC) and government officials that ended in Beijing on June 23 is certainly worth paying attention to: it could herald significant shifts in China’s relations with the world — and be of far-reaching importance to India as well.
Much of the two-day deliberations remained behind-closed doors, but President Xi Jinping’s lengthy report, submitted to the conference, carries several clues on how he plans to take forward Chinese diplomacy. Xi listed 10 areas of priority, starting with “upholding the authority of the party” and “strengthening the centralised, unified leadership of the party on external work”.
In other words, a greater role for the CPC and its International Liaison Department, which had earlier largely relegated the role of diplomacy to the bureaucrats of the foreign ministry.
Now, the party is back. The ILD has generally focused on party-to-party ties with other nations — its ministers have recently visited India and met with both BJP and Congress leaders — but it could now take on a weightier role, especially at a time when China has been talking about “sharing lessons” and promoting its authoritarian capitalist developmental model abroad.
The Belt and Road Initiative was also on the list, with Xi saying China would “forge ahead” with the BRI. For India, this could mean dealing with a continued Chinese emphasis to deepen its economic presence in the neighbourhood through the BRI.
Xi summed up China’s goal as to “advance major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics to fulfill the mission of realising national rejuvenation”. This means focusing on relations with major powers — the US, Russia, EU and closer to home Japan and India, among others — to ensure China has a stable periphery and favourable international environment for its rise.
Top of the list will be navigating a looming trade war with the US, while China continues with its mending of fences with India and Japan, at least for the time being as it deals with the US and the unfolding changes on the Korean peninsula.
He said another priority would be to “take national core interests as the bottom line to safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and development interests”, which means no compromises on its territorial disputes. Xi also hinted at a greater global role for China, from “enhancing strategic confidence” to “developing global partnerships while advancing diplomatic agenda” and “leading the reform of the global governance system”.
Central work conferences are important events in China — this is only the second Xi has convened on foreign policy and the first in his second term. The idea is to push this carefully thought-out strategic plan across all sections of the Chinese government, from the military to its state-owned enterprises as they push China’s interests abroad.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)