New Delhi: A new Chinese foreign policy document calls for prioritising relations with neighbours, bats for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and warns that the Cold War mentality is “resurfacing”.
Despite emphasising the importance of maintaining good relations with neighbours, the document doesn’t mention India — with which Beijing has been engaged in a border standoff since 2020 — save for a footnote.
In the footnote, India is mentioned along with 27 countries with which China has established partnerships and cooperation.
The document, released Wednesday, also notes the rise of “regional military alliances”, “exclusive clubs” and “bloc confrontation” in its neighbourhood.
While it does not specify any groupings, this appears to be an indirect dig at the American pivot to Asia, and blocs like the Quad, of which India is a member alongside the US, Australia and Japan.
China has in the past been critical of the Quad and the rising convergence of viewpoints and cooperation between the US and India on a host of security and defence issues, including the Malabar exercise, which has grown from a bilateral India-US endeavour to include Australia and Japan.
Titled ‘Outlook on China’s Foreign Policy on Its Neighborhood In the New Era’, the document is divided into four chapters: 1) Asia faces new opportunities and challenges, 2) Significant progress made in China’s relations with its neighbours, 3) Concepts and propositions of China’s neighbourhood diplomacy in the new era, and 4) A new vision for the “Asian century” in the new era.
The foreign policy document comes on the heels of Chinese and Bhutanese officials completing a round of border talks and agreeing to work towards formal diplomatic relations. “Hotspot issues have been effectively managed and controlled,” states the document.
Maritime tensions have been increasing between China and the Philippines, with US President Joe Biden warning Wednesday that Washington will defend Manila in case of any attack in the disputed South China Sea.
“China and the United States should, on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation engage in sound interactions in the Asia-Pacific and contribute positive energy to regional stability and development,” states the document.
China Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on a three-day visit to the US this week.
Wang, who landed in Washington Thursday, acknowledged that China and the US have differences but said they share important common interests too.
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‘Cold War mentality is resurfacing’
The Chinese foreign ministry’s policy document claims the “Cold War” mentality — referring to the decades of tensions between the US and the erstwhile Soviet Union that began shortly after the Second World War — returning to the world stage.
“Cold War mentality is resurfacing; unilateralism, protectionism and hegemonism run rampant,” it states, adding that global governance is currently dysfunctional.
Asia, meanwhile, faces challenges such as uneven economic growth as well as security issues, it says. “Some countries have intensified efforts to build regional military alliances,” it adds, citing the Korean Peninsula issue and Afghanistan as examples of challenges that Asia faces.
China has a total of 17 territorial disputes with its neighbours on land and sea.
However, the document says that Beijing has resolved territorial disputes with 12 neighbours on land: South Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
The document also pushes for speeding up the development of a “China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement 3.0”, which it says will “effectively implement” the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (a free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific nations) — which India has not joined.
‘High-quality Belt and Road cooperation’
Earlier this month, China hosted its third BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) Forum which was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin but overall saw the participation of fewer leaders compared to previous iterations of the event.
At last month’s G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, the US and other nations announced the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC), which is largely seen as a counter to China’s BRI. Italy, which has pulled out of the BRI, is also part of the IMEEC.
In its foreign policy document, China says Beijing has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with 24 “neighbouring countries”, including Timor-Leste — a small Southeast Asian country where India decided last month to establish an embassy.
“To promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, China will give priority to connectivity corridor projects of railways and highways with neighbouring countries, and accelerate the development of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor,” says the document.
China will ‘avoid interfering in other countries’ internal affairs’
In its vision for the “Asian century” and a new era of geopolitics, China says it will firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests while respecting the development path of other countries and avoiding interfering in their internal affairs.
On Taiwan, the document emphasises the One-China policy, adding that China will continue to pursue “national reunification” and oppose calls for Taiwan’s independence.
“The more unequivocal we are in upholding the one-China principle and the more forceful our measures are to forestall separation,” it says.
Under regional cooperation, the document makes special mention of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), calling it a “comprehensive regional organisation with the largest geographical coverage and population”.
The SCO is a nine-member group comprising China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and Iran, which officially joined this July.
Though the SCO is largely viewed as a China-led bloc, India has used the forum to voice its concerns about the need to “respect territorial integrity” in the neighbourhood.
At the 22nd session of the SCO Council of Heads of Government in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Thursday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said connectivity projects in the region should “respect territorial integrity” and avoid “unviable debt”.
He also batted for the IMEEC, saying it could be a force multiplier for the region.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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