Fresh View Point: See China from China
Fresh View Point: See China from China
  • Reporter Choi Na-youn
  • 승인 2015.02.13 15:15
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Nowadays, China is very powerful in political, economic, technological fields of the world. There are many Chinese in every attraction in Korea and around the world. Chinese power is apparent in nearly every country. Then, how does China view East Asia? A Chinese graduate student, Zhou Huiping, who is majoring in political diplomacy in the Peking University Graduate School, explained China’s perspective.
Q. How does China view political states of East Asia countries?
Here is what one of China’s major foreign policies states, “Great powers are key [to China’s diplomacy], periphery is a priority, developing countries are bases and multilateral occasions are significant platforms”. Generally speaking, East Asia has already caught much attention from China. On one hand, China needs a peaceful neighborhood to secure domestic development. On the other hand, with amazing economic progress since the second half of last century, East Asia has become the geopolitical center in the 21st century, especially with the background of Obama Administration’s “Pivot to Asia”.
China considers Korean Peninsula tensions and territorial disputes as the main elements most likely to lead to regional instability. Besides, China believes that China, Japan and South Korea play the pivotal role in most regional affairs. Any serious conflicts among the three will ferment a major crisis.
Q. What political status does China have in East Asia?
Since the Second World War, China, as a member of anti-fascist allies, has long been an important player in regional politics. As of today, China has scored considerable progress in economy growth, which also adds to its political influence.
Admittedly, China’s efforts to befriend its East Asian neighbors are complicated by territorial and historical disputes. Tensions run particularly high with Japan in the East China Sea and with Philippines in the South China Sea. All the sovereignty claims by China spark fears about its ambition of expansion.
Therefore, in fact, China definitely cannot be ignored when it comes to charting a blueprint for East Asia. Countries in the region are conscious of this, but they are quite concerned about the dragon’s intention, and not so sure where it will go.
Q. If there is a problem in East Asia, how is China going to handle with?
East Asian countries are afflicted with two types of problems nowadays, namely traditional security dilemmas and nontraditional security threats. China’s core stance on traditional security issues, for example, territorial disputes, remains consistent. China has long maintained to shelve differences and make joint explorations, whether in the East China Sea or South China Sea. The Chinese government clearly understands how important regional peace and stability is to itself.
Recent decades have witnessed non-traditional security problems increasing in salience, and those problems have jumped high in the agendas of governments in East Asia. NTS problems usually spread far beyond limited country boundaries, which could be demonstrated by the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Moreover, any unilateral action cannot effectively address these kinds of problems. Therefore, in the setting of steadily growing interdependence in the region, China is prone to seek cooperation with related countries to cope with these threats.
The responses above are from a student still studying politics. Her views may not represent how all Chinese feel. However, it was a very fresh experience to know how Chinese people may view Korea and other countries. The student whose opinions are expressed above met The Postech Times in Beijing on Jan. 20th.