“Generally speaking, over the past few decades, China has been regarded as a revisionist power, with an alternative vision of international order and an interest in significantly restructuring the prevailing order.”
This is especially considered to be the case in the political and human rights milieu, where China has proclaimed its adherence to the idea of ‘Asian values’ in the human rights domain, and its sociopolitical norms and values stand in opposition to the norms and values of the liberal international order, he writes in ‘Rising Powers and International Organizations: The Case of China’s Counter-terrorism Strategy at the United Nations’, published in China Report. Beijing’s initiative to establish the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank in recent years is also seen as a challenge to the US-led post-World War II international order.
“However, China’s counter-terrorism strategy at the UN tells a different story,” the author states. Through participation in the UN counter-terrorism mechanism, China has tried to project itself as a guardian, not a challenger, of the existing international order. Instead of behaving like a revisionist power, here, China, indeed, behaves like a status quo power. This is seen in the developments in China’s counter-terrorism strategy over the last 46 years.
Key changes in this strategy, like advocacy to bring the UN from the periphery to the center of international counter-terrorism, and assigning it a central coordinating and harmonization role in this endeavor, also reflect its intention to maintain rather than challenge the existing international order. China has emphasized adherence to the principles and purposes of the UN in international counter-terrorism. Earlier, China used to regard countering terrorism as the responsibility of the affected states and outside the purview of the United Nations.
In its intervention in the UN’s counter-terrorism activities, China’s main contribution lies in normative aspects, such as de-legitimization, advocacy and the non-use of force against another state, and in the identification of and response to the root causes of terrorism. It regards terrorism as a ‘common enemy’ of and the ‘gravest threat’ to humanity, and it advocates a universal zero-tolerance policy towards it.
Its position has shifted from identifying the root causes of terrorism in phenomena like colonialism, foreign occupation and racist regimes, to locating these in domestic factors such as lack of economic development and economic and social injustice. Foreign policy concerns, once a key driver of its policy towards terrorism, have become secondary to domestic concerns.
In order to project itself as a responsible actor, China has enacted anti-terrorism laws at home and sought to facilitate international cooperation through the signing of extradition treaties, information sharing and conducting joint anti-terrorism drills. It has also actively assisted terrorism-affected states to build their counter-terrorism capacity. China’s request to other countries to be part of the UN counter-terrorism mechanism, to implement the obligations and abide by the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, sends a clear signal about China’s status quoist intentions towards the UN, an essential part of the present liberal international order.
Despite these changes, CHANDRA contends, it must be recognized that ‘state-centrism’ remains at the core of China’s counter-terrorism approach. Although China puts the UN at the center of global counter-terrorism coordination efforts, it continues to regard states as the principal actors in international counter-terrorism. If an affected state is unable to fight terrorism effectively, only then does the international community have the responsibility to assist and build the capacity of the concerned state to tackle the menace.
China, thus, regards state sovereignty as sacrosanct in its counter-terrorism strategy at the United Nations. It advocates building consensus on this issue but is strongly opposed to the use of force against another state in the name of fighting. It holds that the counter-terror initiatives and measures of the UN must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and abide by the rules of international law.
Recent modifications in China’s foreign policy and practice, including a more muscular approach to countries in its neighborhood and beyond with whom it has disputes, have given rise to renewed discussion about China’s revisionist intentions towards the international order. Nevertheless, China’s voting record with respect to UN anti-terrorism resolutions as well as its other interventions at the UN on the front of counter-terrorism indicate that in this regard at least, China’s behavior by and large confirms its status quoist intentions.
Vikash Chandra, 'Rising Powers and International Organizations: The Case of China’s Counter-terrorism Strategy at the United Nations', China Report, Volume: 55 issue: 2, page(s): 125-144, May 1, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1177/0009445519834376
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