CHINA’S ROLE AND STATUS IN INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY: SHOULD ITS RISE BE PERCEIVED AS A ‘THREAT’?

Abstract

China has been making strides in numerous areas the entire world is still trying to grapple with and determine in what way China’s economic growth, active engagement and participation in the world system will affect nation states. Without a doubt, this has added increasing pressure and brought complications for China in continuously explaining its economic growth to a number of actors who perceive its growth and active participation in international society as a “threat”. In effect, China is still yet to define completely its new role in international society even today, and is still using its foreign policy principles and approaches in its participatory role in international society. Moreover, despite honoring its commitments to international society, it still plays a comparatively lesser role in the shaping and making of rules and regulations. Thus, rather than developing and creating new comprehensive policies geared towards shaping and making new rules and regulations to guide its action and roles in international society given that numerous changes have occurred in the world, such as more and more civil conflicts, humanitarian crisis and rogue leaders on the rise today, etc.; China needs to make changes to ensure that not only its voice is heard, but its rules and regulations are up-to-date, works and applicable along with its spoken voice. Based on these assumptions and debates, it is therefore reasonable to make an attempt to determine China’s role and status in its involvement in international society and its rise to become a global power, given its participation in international society which plays a significant part in the way the world perceives China’s rise. On this basis, the article intends to attempt to unravel China’s role and status in international society, the limitations and challenges China faces and the perception of its threat in becoming a “rising” global power.