Abstracts for Volume 4 of Peace and Development in 2018

On the Thought to Build a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity

By Chen Jimin, Associate Professor from the Institute for International Strategic Studies of the Central Party School of the CPC, and Guest Researcher of CPDS.  To build a community with a shared future for humanity is the strategic thought China has proposed in the 21st century, concerning the trend of international relations and the development direction for the human society in the future. The strengthening of global interdependency, new challenges faced in global governance, and China’s responsibility as a major power constitute the keynote of the current era. The thought on building a community with a shared future for humanity is mainly manifested in five aspects: a political view of lasting peace, a security view of universal security, an economic view of common prosperity, an open and inclusive view of civilization, and a view of clean and beautiful ecology. China is both the initiator and practitioner of the thought on building a community with a shared future for humanity, and the solution provider for building a community with a shared future for humanity, playing a central role in realizing this grand vision.

The US-Japan Alliance under the Trump Administration and Its Future Development Trend

By Dr. Ling Shengli, Associate Professor from the Institute of International Relations, China Foreign Affairs University; and Liu Qi, Graduate Student from the Institute of International Relations, China Foreign Affairs University. The US-Japan alliance is an important pivot for the Asia-Pacific strategy of the United States, and its adjustment and change will exert major impact on the regional situation. Since coming into office, Trump’s foreign policy, influenced by both internal and external situation, has been characterized by isolationism, minorlateralism and transactionalism, which have brought some change to the US-Japan alliance. Although the Asia-Pacific strategy of the Trumpadministration remains ambiguous, the US dependence on the US-Japan alliance will not change. The development trend of the US-Japan alliance will be deeply affected by such factors as geopolitics, the China factor, defense sharing and trade frictions. Although the U.S. and Japan are in a close relationship of alliance, their alliance is not developing in a linear fashion, as the hard issues like trade frictions and defense sharing have turned more outstanding after Trump came to power

Rethinking the Trade Frictions between the U.S. and Japan—A Historic Analysis from the Alliance Perspective

By XieRuochu, Doctoral Student from the Department of Japanese Studies, Graduate School of CASS; and LyuYaodong, Professor from the Department of Japanese Studies, Graduate School of CASS, and Guest Researcher of CPDS. Trade friction is a major issue that has always affected the Japan-US relationship, while maintaining and developing the Japan-US alliance cannot do without resolving this issue. By looking back into history, we may find out that from a macro perspective, the Japan-US alliance had provided the strategic support for the rapid economic development of Japan, and at the same time set the stage for the trade frictions between them, which have conversely affected the alliance; from a micro perspective, the politicized trade frictions appearing under the US dominance have gradually got out of the category of pure economy later on to become an important way for the two countries to make transactions of interests at multiple levels and in multiple domains. From this we can see, for the U.S., initiating trade frictions has, in fact, already assumed a strong color of political confrontation. So, China should take lessons from the history of trade frictions between the U.S. and Japan, and remain on guard against the U.S. forcing China to compromise its economic interests by using political interests and other matters as a threat.

The 20th Anniversary of the Nuclear Tests by India and Pakistan: Retrospect and Prospect

By Rong Ying, Vice President and Research Fellow of China Institute of International Studies, and Guest Researcher of CPDS. This year witnesses the 20th anniversary of the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan. In May of 1998, India made five successivenuclear tests despite international opposition, while Pakistan followed by making six consecutive nuclear tests at a stretch, indicating India and Pakistan have entered a period of open nuclear confrontation. Over the past 20 years, although India and Pakistan have made no new nuclear tests, and concentrated their efforts on nuclear diplomacy to make the international community to accept their status as nuclear states, the nuclear arsenals of India and Pakistan are growing, and their nuclear confrontation is rising steadily. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Looking back into the 20 years history of nuclear arms development by India and Pakistan is of great and realistic significance for maintaining regional peace and stability in South Asia, and safeguarding the global nuclear non-proliferation regime based on the NPT.

The Security Cooperation of India in the South China Sea: Motivation, Measures and Prospect

By Dr. Pang Jingran, Lecturer from the Luoyang School, PLA Information Engineering University. In recent years, the South China Sea issue faces a new challenge posed by the major power involvement. After the U.S. and Japan have got involved in the South China Sea dispute, India has become another major power from outside of the region that is trying to get involved in the South China Sea issue. To counter-balance China’s growing influence and expand its own sphere of interests, India has taken measures to boost its security cooperation in the South China Sea by strengthening its naval deployment toward the South China Sea, elevating its defense cooperation with the ASEAN countries, and enhancing coordination with the U.S. and Japan on the South China Sea issue. It is foreseeable that India will surely deepen its security cooperation with countries related to the South China Sea. Although this kind of cooperation will be confined to certain limits in the short run, there will be uncertainties in the long run, which calls China to work out counter-measures before hand.

The China-Vietnam Cooperation against the Background of the “Belt and Road” Initiative: Status Quo and Prospect

By Dr. QiuPuyan, Lecturer from the Department of History, Zhengzhou University, andResearcher of Zhengzhou University sub-Center, Collaborative Innovation Center for Territorial Sovereignty and Maritime Rights. Vietnam is one of the most important neighbors of China and the biggest trade partner of China along the Belt and Road. Since the “Belt and Road” initiative was proposed, economic cooperation between China and Vietnam has made substantial progress, with not only the “Belt and Road” initiative strategically synergized with Vietnam’s “Two Corridors and One Loop” concept, but also the China-Vietnam cooperation operating effectively under the “Lantsang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism”. Although complicated historic and realistic factors have threatened the stability of the China-Vietnam relationship in recent years, the complementary nature of the economic structures of the two countries has offered a huge space for the bilateral cooperation. Moreover, the unique geo features and the multiple cooperation mechanisms have ensured long-term stability of the China-Vietnam economic cooperation, while the achievements of the economic cooperation will conversely further boost the overall stability of the bilateral relationship.

The Driving Force, Process and Characteristics of China’s Local Governments in Participating in the China-ASEAN Cooperation

By Yang Xiangzhang, Assistant Research Fellow from Center for China’s Neighbor Diplomacy and the Institute of Myanmar Studies, Yunnan University. Since China and ASEAN established dialog mechanism in 1991, the Chinese local governments have played an important role in the bilateral cooperation, with the ASEAN countries becoming major external economic cooperation partners of the Chinese local governments, as participating in the China-ASEAN cooperation is an effective way and natural choice to boost local development in China. The participation of the Chinese local governments in the China-ASEAN cooperation has undergone three phases, namely passive implementation of policy, active participation, and positively coordinating with the central government to speed up the cooperation process, characterized by diversity, imbalance and a combination of competition with cooperation. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Chinese central leadership has attached great importance to the peripheral diplomacy, strengthened the coordinationbetween the central government and the local governments, coordinated and balanced the interests and roles among different local governments, emphasized the awareness of the local governments to serve the overall national diplomacy, and given a full play to the local governments along the Chinese border, which will lead the way for the Chinese local governments to participate in the China-ASEAN cooperation in the future, and is also the natural demand for building the China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

China’s Strategic Choice of Building the “Silk Road on Ice”—A Study Based on the SWOT Analysis Method

By Zhang Mujin, Graduate Student from China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies, Wuhan University; and Wang Chenguang, Doctoral Student from China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies, Wuhan University. Both authors are researchers of Collaborative Innovation Center for Territorial Sovereignty and Maritime Rights, Wuhan University; and Center for National Governance and Public Policy Studies, Wuhan University. With the speedy change of the natural environment in the Arctic, the exploitation and utilization of the natural resources in the Arctic are gradually becoming possible. As the biggest Arctic country, Russia is actively developing its Arctic regions and seeking China’s support in this regard in recent years to promote its economic development and respond to the sanctions imposed by the West. In 2017, China and Russia proposed to jointly build the “Silk Road on Ice”, a strategic endeavor to incorporate the Arctic development into the “Belt and Road” initiative and deepen the Sino-Russia cooperation in the Arctic. This paper used the SWOT analysis method from the strategic management to study the internal and external environment for China to build the “Silk Road on Ice”. As the study shows, it is better for China to adopt an opportunistic strategy at present for building the “Silk Road on Ice” to overcome its own inferiority by capitalizing on the external opportunities so as to realize the transition to the facilitative strategy.