China Debates the 'New Type of Great Power Relations'

Abstract

The proposal to forge a ‘new type of great power relations’ is one of the most important diplomatic innovations this Chinese administration has made. Although popular in official discourse, Chinese scholars diverge greatly on how to define the new concept. Debates focus on who the great powers are and what the new relations feature. All are rooted in the vagueness of this concept in official discourse. As the official interpretation of the concept is changing, the debate is also narrowing to that of the goals of the new relations. However, the revision of this concept makes it less practical due to its disconnectedness with the reality of China–US relations. The revised expression also diminishes the uniqueness of the new relations proposal, which implies that it may no longer be a feasible guide to China–US relations or an effective framework for academic studies on the power transition between existing and established powers. Having surpassed Germany and Japan in succession to become the world’s second biggest economy, China imposes greater influence than ever on regional and global affairs, not just in economy, but also in politics and security. There has consequently been more discussion on China’s rise both in Western and Chinese studies. Debates on China’s rise have extended from relatively simple narratives on the ‘China threat’ in the 1990s to more neutral and specific ones, such as whether there could be a peaceful rise of China, whether China could adapt to the existing international regimes and norms, and, most specifically, how China as a rising power would manage disputes and conflicts with other major powers. The answers 1 Regarding discussions on the influence of China’s rise, see Barry Buzan, ‘China in International Society: Is ‘Peaceful Rise’ Possible?’, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 3, No. 1 (2010), pp. 5–36; Feng Huiyun, ‘Is China a Revisionist Power?’, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 2, No. 3 (2009), pp. 313–34; Charles Glaser, ‘Will China’s Rise Lead to War’, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 90, No. 2 (2011), http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67479/ VC The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Institute of Modern International Relations, Tsinghua University. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. The Chinese Journal of International Politics, 2015, 349–370 doi: 10.1093/cjip/pov012