Abstract
China is the subject of Western criticism for its supposed disregard of the rules-based international order. Such a charge implies that China is unilateralist. The aim in this study is to explain how China does in fact have a multilateral approach to international relations. China’s core idea of a community of shared future of humanity shows that it is aware of the need for a universal foundation for world order. The Research Report focuses on explaining the Chinese approach to multilateralism from its own internal perspective, with Chinese philosophy and history shaping its view of the nature of rules, rights, law, and of institutions which should shape relationships. A number of case studies show how the Chinese perspectives are implemented, such as with regards to development finance, infrastructure projects (especially the Belt and Road Initiative), shaping new international organisations (such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank), climate change, cyber-regulation and Chinese participation in the United Nations in the field of human rights and peacekeeping. Looking at critical Western opinion of this activity, we find speculation around Chinese motives. This is why a major emphasis is placed on a hermeneutic approach to China which explains how it sees its intentions. The heart of the Research Report is an exploration of the underlying Chinese philosophy of rulemaking, undertaken in a comparative perspective to show how far it resembles or differs from the Western philosophy of rulemaking.
Highlights
3.1.1 The Chinese experience3.1.2 External observations3.2.1 The legal framework3.2.2 Debate and public discourse3.3 Between cyber-sovereignty and the rules-based liberal democratic international order3.4 Governance and civil societyChinese reflections3.5 Wider Western responses to the nature of a human rights-based international order3.6 Human rights and developmental peaceChinese Confucianism: implications for the nature of multilateralism and international organisation4.1 Social regulation
China is currently deeply engaged with the universal international organisation of the United Nations (UN) and other regional groups including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Latin America, East Central Europe (16+1), the East Asian Regional Trade Partnership, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Comprehensive Investment Agreement (CIA) with the European Union (EU), and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
China is currently confronted with a diplomatic crisis following repeated calls by the United States (US) Biden Administration, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General, and figures within the EU for a league of countries including India, South Korea, Japan, and Australia to come together to uphold the values of liberal democracies against China
Summary
China is the subject of Western criticism for its supposed disregard of the rules-based international order. Keywords multilateralism versus unilateralism; rules-based international order; community of shared future of humanity; Confucian philosophy of rulemaking and right/law; international law; Belt and Road Initiative; Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; development finance; climate change; human rights; peacekeeping; global cyber-regulation. Recent publications include Philosophy of International Law (2017, Edinburgh University Press) He has published extensively on legal aspects of the South China Sea Island disputes, published in Jus Gentium: Journal of International Legal History 2019, no. and no., and Morality and Responsibility of Rulers: European and Chinese Origins of a Rule of Law as Justice for World Order (2018, Oxford University Press). Her research and advisory work focus on China’s international development policy and strategies, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), and sustainable development She has led many interdisciplinary research projects involving multi-country teams, including the groundbreaking pioneering research on China’s outward investment in Africa. Recent publications include ‘Chinese State Capitalism? Rethinking the Role of the State and Business in Chinese Development Cooperation in Africa’ (World Development), and ‘China’s Development Finance and African Infrastructure Development’ in China–Africa and an Economic Transformation (2019, Oxford University Press)
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