Rethinking the Rise of China and Its Implications on International Order

Abstract

The rise of China has become a central debate in the academic field of international relations. In the Western world, the scholars within this debate can roughly be divided into the ‘pessimists’ and the ‘optimists’. The pessimists see in the rise of China an inevitable hegemonic war, or at least prolonged and intense zero-sum competition, with the US as it will seek to replace the latter and overturn the existing liberal international order. The optimists, on the other hand, see an opportunity for sustained Western dominance through selective accommodation of China in exchange for China’s acceptance of the existing norms and values of the liberal international order and continued US dominance. In this paper, we maintain that both perspectives in the debate are misleading. We argue that China seeks to push for a multipolarized world rather than replacing the US, and that Beijing prefers the relations between the great powers within a multipolar order to be based on the conception of a ‘community of common destiny for humankind’. We also argue that China is unlikely to accept the existing norms and values of the liberal international order as they reflect and reinforce Western dominance. Rather, China has become an ‘order-shaper’ seeking to reform the existing institutions to better reflect the interests of the ‘Rest’, and establish new networks and institutions that will complement and augment the existing arrangements of the liberal international order, instead of challenging it.

A Crisis of Status Quo or Power Transition Amidst China Rise: An Integrative Review of a Literature

“…Holistically, Beijing acts like an 'order shaper', and it seems to realign its policy of connectivity, networking, and institutions which directly or indirectly adjusts with the international liberal order. It is neither challenging nor is a threat to the Western liberal order (Can, C. M., & Chan, A. 2020).…”

Preventive or Revisionist Challenge During Power Transition? The Case of China–USA Strategic Competition

“…This line of thinking is invoked by a variety of scholars in their assessments on the implications the rise of China will have on the relations between the great powers and the future trajectory of international order (Can & Chan, 2020). ‘China’, as one scholar has stressed, ‘is the only country on the planet with the potential to challenge U.S. power’ (Mearsheimer, 2018, p. 233), and we should expect China to initiate that challenge, such as through territorial expansion, direct military confrontation, and by undermining the existing institutions of the international order in its bid to replace Pax Americana with a Pax Sinica , once it reaches parity or overtakes the USA (Friedberg, 2020; Pillsbury, 2015).…”

“…With the TPP, the USA essentially sought to forge a trade alliance whose entry requirements were designed to exclude China. Increasingly, it became clear that Washington desired to push China out from the evolving regional politico-economic architecture and isolate it, unless Beijing accepted continued US regional dominance and abide by the norms and values of the liberal international order (Jianren, 2019; Can & Chan, 2020).…”

“…While the name of the containment policy was changed from ‘Rebalance to Asia’ to the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ (FOIP) strategy, its essence very much remained the same. Its objective remained to try to halt and reverse the transition process by containing the rise of China and increasing US strategic influence in the region (Can & Chan, 2020). The FOIP strategy, similar to the rebalance strategy, aimed to strengthen US military, diplomatic and economic commitments to ‘established alliances and partnerships, while also expanding and deepening relations with new partners’ (such as India and Vietnam) to counter China’s attempt to ‘reorder the region to its own advantage’, according to a report from the Department of Defense (DoD, 2019, pp.…”

“…China’s response to the accelerated competition was through the announcement of the conception of ‘a community of common destiny for humankind’ as a policy guideline. As elucidated above, the similarities between China’s first and second responses to the US strategic challenge has been to cultivate and strengthen ties with the international community in order to portray itself as a benign power rising peacefully (Can & Chan, 2020).…”