First, China can divert attention and steer it in the wrong direction by being verbose. For example, the insistence that security be brought about through political conversation and peaceful negotiation should be interpreted as either hyperbole or possibly even a time-wasting tactic to create new realities on the ground. This is clear from China’s track record in negotiations with ASEAN on a code of conduct in the South China Sea, as well as from China’s refusal to leave the Indian province of eastern Ladakh nearly three years after a military conflict in 2020 and despite numerous rounds of bilateral discussions.
Source: Topperu2019s Notes
Second, the Concept Paper closely follows the terminology used in domestic Chinese politics by the Communist Party of China (CPC). As a result, Party General Secretary Xi Jinping has been reiterating the opening tenet, Today… the world community is confronted with many threats and challenges rarely seen before, as well as the appeal to create a community with a shared future for mankind, for a number of years. The goal is to socialize the rest of the world to embrace Chinese ways of thinking about international issues, not only Chinese terminology.
Of course, the question then becomes: Who is accountable when Regional security hotspots keep igniting and unilateralism and protectionism have risen significantly?
Source: CGTN
This brings us to the third and possibly most significant part of the GSI document: the ideological competition lens through which China sees the world.
In order to prevent pressure from concepts of democracy and liberalism from undermining its authority at home, the CPC must make sure that non-democratic political systems abroad have the freedom to flourish. China effectively argues that totalitarian and autocratic regimes have an equal right to exist alongside democratically accountable ones when it asserts that foreign interference in a nation’s internal affairs and its right to independently choose its own social systems and development paths must be upheld.
The GSI encapsulates the zero-sum worldviews and ideological preferences of the Chinese Party-State. Its charges of Cold War mindset, unilateralism, bloc conflict, and hegemonism against others serve as a mirror for China’s own approaches to international security.
What do you think about this share your views in the comments below
