Best of 2023: Responding to China
BEST OF 2023:
RESPONDING TO CHINA
5 January 2024
In 2023, policymakers worldwide invested an unprecedented amount of time and resources in developing strategies for their relations with China. This heightened focus was prompted by the significant influence of Beijing's domestic, foreign, and security policies on the economies and politics of other countries.
Here, we present some of our most-read analyses on different countries’ evolving strategies towards China featured in the past year.
THE EU’S ANTI-COERCION INSTRUMENT — A NEW STEP IN EU-CHINA ESCALATION?
WRITTEN BY SJORRE COUVREUR, PHD RESEARCHER AT THE GHENT INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN STUDIES, GHENT UNIVERSITY
In this first article, Couvreur analyses the European Union’s new Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) and its broader implications for EU-China relations. He argues that although Beijing perceives the ACI as an offensive weapon that might unlawfully be used to target China, it is unlikely to trigger any future escalation in EU-China relations. Rather, Couvreur maintains that adopting the ACI is an important step for the EU’s adjustment to an increasingly geo-economic context in international trade policy.
GERMANY’S NEW CHINA STRATEGY – A ROADMAP FOR CLIMATE FOREIGN POLICY
WRITTEN BY BELINDA SCHÄPE, POLICY ADVISOR ON CHINA AND EU-CHINA RELATIONS AT E3G
In July 2023, the German government published its first-ever Strategy on China. In this article, Schäpe assesses the Strategy’s aims regarding climate cooperation and explains how it sets an example of what an effective climate foreign policy could look like.
A LAW TO REIN IN TECH FIRMS: THE US IS RESTRICTING CHINA BY EMULATING IT
WRITTEN BY WENDY CHANG, RESEARCH ASSISTANT AT THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION POLICY TEAM AT MERICS AND ANTONIA HMAIDI, ANALYST IN THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION POLICY TEAM AT MERICS
In this article, Chang and Hmaidi explore the United States’ “Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act” (RESTRICT Act), which proposes to grant the executive branch broad powers to restrict tech products and services from China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. According to the authors, with this broad legislation — which, they argue, can be weaponised at will to crack down on specific targets — Washington risks losing the trust as a guardian of the rules-based international order and global trade. By expanding their definitions of national security, both China and the US also seem ready to accept the fragmentation of their ever-more digital economies and societies as inevitable.
DECOUPLING FROM CHINA IS NOT SO EASY FOR JAPAN AND KOREA
WRITTEN BY DR CHANG-MIN LEE, PROFESSOR AT THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AND AREA STUDIES OF HANKUK UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES
The United States’ CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act, both aiming to protect domestic industries and corporations, were signed into law in August 2022. Dr Chang-min Lee investigates the influence of these legislative measures on US allies, stressing that, while they are supposed to counter China, they also impose a heavy burden on Japan and Korea. Comparing the two states’ positions on the latest developments, Lee concludes that both US allies need to find their own strategies for reducing dependency on China without losing sight of their own domestic and international interests.
NZ: MAORI FOREIGN POLICY TO MANAGE INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA
WRITTEN BY BONNIE HOLSTER, MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE STUDENT AT TE HERENGA WAKA – VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON AND DR NICHOLAS ROSS SMITH, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY’S NATIONAL CENTRE FOR RESEARCH ON EUROPE
On the other side of the globe, Aotearoa New Zealand’s relationship with China falls under the Maori foreign policy umbrella first introduced in 2021. Here, Holster and Ross Smith explore the kaupapa Maori foreign policy framework and why China — somewhat surprisingly — falls under its umbrella.
SOUTHEAST ASIAN MARITIME STATES ARE HEDGING TO STAY AFLOAT AMIDST US-CHINA RIVALRY
WRITTEN BY HUNTER MARSTON, AUSTRALIA ASSOCIATE AT 9DASHLINE, ADJUNCT RESEARCH FELLOW AT LA TROBE ASIA, PHD CANDIDATE AT AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Geographically closer to China lie the states of Southeast Asia, many of whom have been confronted with Beijing’s increasingly expansionist tendencies and grey zone tactics related to disputes in the South China Sea. Yet, as Hunter Marston notes in this article, rather than a concerted military response against China, Southeast Asian states have recently deepened hedging strategies to shape a stable regional environment. Marston suggests that although it will become increasingly difficult to sustain hedging policies, as long as doubts about US credibility persist, Southeast Asian states will have no choice but to stand up to and get along with China at the same time.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.
Image credit: Unslpash/Eean Chen.