China's Foreign Policy: What Does It Mean for U.S. Global Interests?

China’s Foreign Policy:
What Does It Mean for U.S. Global Interests?
July 18, 2008
Kerry Dumbaugh
Specialist in Asian Affairs
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division

China’s Foreign Policy:
What Does It Mean for U.S. Global Interests?
Summary
Since the late 1990s, China’s robust international engagement has caught many
by surprise and prompted growing American debate over the PRC’s motivations and
objectives. This international engagement has expanded while the United States has
been preoccupied with its military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress
and other U.S. policymakers are becoming increasingly concerned that China’s
expanded international engagement could have its “soft power” projection and affect
U.S. economic and strategic interests.
Experience suggests that abrupt, unexplained shifts in policy occur with some
regularity in the PRC system. Still, it is possible to point to some fundamental
objectives that appear to be motivating Beijing’s foreign policy. These include an
imperative to promote and enhance China’s economic development, particularly its
voracious need for energy resources and raw materials to sustain its double-digit
annual growth; an effort to separate the island of Taiwan, over which the PRC claims
sovereignty, from its 23 remaining official relationships; and a desire to increase
China’s international stature and compete more successfully with perceived U.S.
supremacy. To achieve these ends, China in recent years has crafted a multitude of
bilateral agreements and partnerships, joined and become more active in existing
multilateral organizations, and become a founding member of new multilateral
institutions in which the United States is not a member.
Of alarm to some, China’s policy approach has several competitive “soft power”
advantages over the United States. The “unrestricted” nature of Beijing’s overseas
loans and investments is attractive to foreign governments wanting swifter, more
efficient, and less intrusive solutions to their development problems than western
lenders will offer. And Beijing’s large state-owned companies, with deep pockets
and no shareholders to answer to, can afford short-term losses in pursuit of longer-
term, more strategic gains.
But China’s approach also has structural limitations in areas where the United
States is strong. Beijing’s foreign development policy operates from a much
narrower base, with China’s “win-win” approach tackling easy issues first and
postponing difficult issues, perhaps indefinitely. Acquiring and maintaining an
international presence also brings certain complications that are new to the PRC,
including multiple opportunities for international misunderstanding, resentment, and
cultural backlash. Finally, unlike the United States, China lacks the advantage of a
substantial private-sector investment presence overseas.
Whatever policy options the United States adopts, China’s growing international
political and economic clout poses demanding challenges and questions for U.S.
policymakers. This report will be updated periodically as events warrant.

Contents
Background and Analysis...........................................1
PRC Diplomacy...........................................1
China’s “New Security Concept”.............................2
Framing the Debate on China’s Growing Global Reach................2
Lack of Transparency in Foreign Policy Decision Making..........3
Lack of Aid and Investment Data.............................3
Questions About U.S. Policy.................................4
The Concept of “Soft Power”....................................5
Presumed PRC Foreign Policy Goals..............................6
Enhancing Sustainable Economic Growth.......................7
Squeezing Taiwan’s International Space........................7
Maintaining Regional and International Stability.................9
Increasing International Stature and Competing with U.S.
Supremacy ...........................................9
Competitive Advantages of PRC “Soft Power”......................12
“No Strings”.............................................12
The Benefits of State-Owned Assets..........................13
Limitations on PRC Soft Power..................................13
Advantage, U.S..........................................14
The Narrow Base of PRC Achievements.......................14
The Complications of an International Presence.................15
The “Private Sector” Calculation.............................15
China’s Foreign Contacts ......................................16
Asia ...................................................16
European Union..........................................19
Middle East and Africa....................................20
Western Hemisphere......................................21
Implications for U.S. Interests ..................................22
Options .....................................................24
Reinvigorate U.S. Global Engagement........................24
Encourage Greater Transparency and Good Governance in China...25
Leverage U.S. Strengths over China..........................25
List of Tables
Table 1. Taiwan’s 23 Official Relationships............................9

China’s Foreign Policy: What Does It Mean
for U.S. Global Interests?
Background and Analysis
Having progressed on a steady path since the late 1970s on multiple global
economic and political endeavors, the robust international engagement of the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 2000 caught many by surprise and prompted
spirited American disagreement and debate over the PRC’s foreign policy
motivations and objectives. The fact that much of this international engagement has
expanded while the United States has been preoccupied with its military involvement
in Iraq and Afghanistan also has brought about a period of American introspection.
Variously referred to as China’s “charm offensive” or its “soft power” approach,
Beijing’s growing international economic engagement, many fear, is going hand-in-
hand with expanding political influence. Although some believe that PRC officials
appear more comfortable working with undemocratic or authoritarian governments,
PRC outreach also has extended to key U.S. allies or to regions where U.S.
dominance to date has been unparalleled and unquestioned, leading some to conclude
that Beijing ultimately intends a direct challenge to U.S. global power. As a result,
Congress and other U.S. policymakers are focusing attention on the critical
implications China’s increasing international engagement could have for U.S.
economic and strategic interests.
PRC Diplomacy. This report emphasizes the PRC’s foreign policy and
diplomatic activities around the world rather than its security policy. China’s foreign
policy today has changed fundamentally since the nation’s founding in 1949.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Chairman Mao Zedong’s policy of “self-reliance”
greatly constrained the nation’s foreign contacts. Beijing’s foreign policy goals then
centered on promoting Maoist revolutionary parties around the world. A lingering
dispute over the Chinese Communist government’s legitimacy in the international
community facilitated its international isolation. Although Mao’s forces had won the
civil war conflict on mainland China, many countries, including the United States,
continued to recognize the previous Republic of China (ROC) government that had
fled to Taiwan as the country’s rightful government. While the PRC went
unrepresented in much of the international community in its early decades, Taiwan
continued to control China’s Embassies around the world, to be China’s signatory to
international agreements, and to hold the Chinese seat in the United Nations and
other multilateral organizations.
All this began to change in the early 1970s when President Nixon initiated an
opening to China and the United Nations voted to recognize the PRC as China’s
legitimate U.N. representative. Under economic and diplomatic reform policies
initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, two years after Mao’s death, China began openly

to seek and receive substantial foreign investment, technology, and expertise. In the
intervening years, the PRC has become an international export powerhouse; has
expanded its membership and participation in international organizations; and
increasingly has appeared willing to embrace many norms and rules of the global
economic system of which the United States is the chief architect and dominant
player. Since 2000 in particular, there has been a steady increase in the quantity and
sophistication of PRC diplomacy. Beijing has courted foreign governments with
high-level diplomatic exchanges, trade initiatives, investment agreements, and
tourism and cultural understandings.
China’s “New Security Concept”. Although this report focuses on non-
military aspects of China’s foreign policy, no discussion of China’s international rise
would be complete without acknowledgment of equally important changes in China’s
security policy.¹ Paralleling its foreign policy developments, changes in PRC
security policy are thought to be based on Beijing’s perceptions since the mid-1990’s
that the country was facing new security challenges. Among these new perceived
challenges were the demise of the Soviet Union and international communism, the
post-Cold War surge in U.S. global dominance — in particular the decisive
demonstration of U.S. military supremacy in the Persian Gulf War — the increasing
pro-independence activism on Taiwan, and the benefits and complications
accompanying China’s own rapid economic growth.
As defined in a series of White Papers published by the State Council
Information Office since 1995, China’s new security concept states that the post-Cold
War order requires a more pragmatic security policy based on “mutual trust, mutual
equality, and cooperation.”² The new security concept seeks to assure that China’s
economic development and military growth is not a threat to its neighbors or the
world. In keeping with its new international diplomacy, China’s new security
approach serves the multiple goals of trying to defuse international instabilities that
could adversely affect China’s own development; trying to expand China’s own
wealth and influence in ways seen as non-threatening to its neighbors; and trying to
balance U.S. global power in a manner that serves China’s interests. Unlike past
security challenges to the United States, China’s new security approach is difficult
to categorize or define: it focuses neither on spreading a political ideology, nor
establishing a global network of client states, nor aggressively seeking territorial
gains. In tandem with its foreign policy diplomacy, China’s new security concept
presents a unique and subtle challenge to U.S. policymakers.
Framing the Debate on China’s Growing Global Reach
A discussion of China’s international engagement must begin with several
caveats about the limits of what is known. First, there is little consensus within the
U.S. and global China-watching communities on China’s ultimate foreign policy

¹ For more on the subject of China’s security policy and growing military power, see Gill,
Bates, Rising Star: China’s New Security Diplomacy, Brookings Institution Press,
Washington, DC, 2007.
² State Council Information Office White Paper, China’s National Defense, July 1998. See
full text at [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/whitepaper/2.html].

goals or on what motivates and informs China’s decisions — either decisions made
in general terms or with regard to specific regions or countries. Does China’s
international engagement have a pragmatic, overarching strategy, or is it a series of
marginally related tactical moves to seek normal economic and political advantages?
Is Beijing interested in supplanting the United States as a global power or focused
mainly on fostering its own national development? Does the PRC feel strong and
confident internationally or weak and uncertain? These questions remain
unanswered.
Lack of Transparency in Foreign Policy Decision Making.Many
have written on China’s foreign policy decision making. Although China’s foreign
policymaking has become more regularized in recent years, few claim to be certain
about how China’s decisions are made, about who makes them, or about what long-
term goals Chinese policies seek to attain. Some profess certainty; but they have not
been able to demonstrate that their convictions lead to any sort of consistency in
analyzing or predicting China’s foreign policy decisions. In the aftermath of
incidents of Sino-U.S. tension or confrontation — such as the case in 2001 when a
Chinese fighter jet collided with a U.S. EP-3 reconnaissance plane, or the case in
2007 when the PRC suddenly denied Hong Kong port visits to a series of U.S. ships
— U.S. officials have remained largely in the dark about the PRC’s crisis
management processes and about why and how PRC leaders reached their decisions.
The number of unknown variables that still animate China’s foreign policy
decision-making processes is simply too great. These variables include uncertainties
about the clashes and respective strengths of internationalists and hardliners in
Chinese politics, about whether and how the interests of various PRC bureaucracies
compete and conflict on a given issue, and about the extent to which bureaucratic
actors seek to undermine policies that they see as disadvantageous to them. Given
these uncertainties, there appears to be no “magic bullet” then — no individual or
group with proven answers — that definitively can inform U.S. views or prepare U.S.
government and congressional actors on how best to address the challenges China
poses to U.S. and global interests.
Lack of Aid and Investment Data. Relatedly, study of PRC international
influence is hampered by a lack of reliable data on Chinese foreign aid and by lack
of transparency on whether and how the PRC makes and implements large, high-
profile investment agreements. According to one 2007 study directed by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), China’s outward foreign direct investment (FDI)
in 2005 was 5 percent that of the United States, with 80 percent apparently going to
the tax havens of Hong Kong, Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands, its
final destinations impossible to trace.³
The PRC does provide assistance to other countries, aid which comes from
multiple government agencies with little or no apparent oversight. Moreover, this aid

³ Morck, Randall; Yeung, Bernard; and Zhao Minyuan, Perspectives on China’s Outward
Foreign Direct Investment, August 2007.

does not appear to be tracked or monitored by one single government entity.⁴ Many
forms of PRC foreign assistance — loans, debt forgiveness, the building of large
public facilities, and trade and investment agreements — do not meet the traditional
definition of “overseas development assistance,” or ODA, which is how most of the
world’s donor countries provide aid. Furthermore, PRC assistance is not provided
in regularized annual allotments, but appears to follow a funding schedule
determined by Beijing’s diplomatic priorities. Beijing reportedly also is reluctant
officially to reveal the totals of its foreign assistance for a variety of reasons,
including out of fear of domestic objection that Beijing is not spending its money at
home rather than abroad, or because much of what appears to be the PRC’s
investment and assistance may be “round-tripped” — or returned back to China as
foreign investment.⁵ In sum, the extent of PRC foreign assistance to other countries
cannot be determined accurately.
At the same time that the PRC is providing global aid and investment, it is also
on the receiving end of substantial aid and investment. Eligible for World Bank
lending as one of 24 Bank-classified developing countries in East Asia and the
Pacific (along with the Philippines, Mongolia, Fiji, and Palau), China not only is the
largest recipient of World Bank lending in Asia but one of the largest in the Bank’s
global activities. The Bank’s lending to China in FY2008 (June 30, 2007 to June 30,
2008) reached $1.51 billion.⁶ Cumulative Bank lending to China since 1981 as of
June 30, 2007 was approximately $42.2 billion.⁷ The PRC also is the largest
recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) among developing countries.
Questions About U.S. Policy. Finally, although U.S. Administrations for
decades have pursued consistent engagement with China, periodic questions arise
about whether the U.S. approach is based on a well-articulated and coherent strategy
or is simply an approach of convenience that should be reassessed in the face of
China’s rise. Outside the Administration, the U.S. policy debate continues to be
characterized by the divisive dynamics that arose in the mid-1990s, in which
American hard-liners (self-described as the “Blue Team”) are pitted against those
advising cooperation and engagement with China (labeled as the “Red Team” by the
opposing group). Thus, there is little agreement about the degree of threat or
challenge China poses to the United States.
In the vocal minority are those who view China as a growing military menace
with malign intent. Many advocates of this view have been perceived by others as
agitators whose counsel to treat China as a major threat to U.S. interests has
implications for U.S. military budgets and, in the opinion of some, is more likely to

⁴ Ministries involved in the PRC’s foreign aid structure include the Ministry of Commerce,
Export-Import Bank, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
⁵ See CRS Report RL34310, China’s ‘Soft Power’ in Southeast Asia, by Thomas Lum,
Wayne Morrison, and Bruce Vaughn.
⁶ “World Bank’s loans to China total $1.51 billion in 2008 fiscal year,” Xinhua, Beijing,
June 25, 2008.
⁷ The World Bank Group, “Overview of China’s Projects & Programs,” according to the
World Bank’s website.

bring about conflict with China than to deter it. The view that has been pursued more
openly by U.S. Administrations is one that counsels cooperation and engagement
with China as the best way to integrate China into the prevailing global system as a
“responsible stakeholder” — a nation that has “a responsibility to strengthen the
international system that has enabled its success.”⁸ Many opponents of this approach
argue that these observers have been seduced by the potential of the China market,
are oblivious to PRC hostile intent, accede to PRC wishes and demands
unnecessarily, and thereby squander U.S. strategic leverage and compromise U.S.
interests.
Another contentious part of this debate involves an argument over which theme
should predominate in U.S. policy decisions: enterprising economic endeavor or lofty
political standards? The confrontational and highly-charged dynamic between these
two polar views continues to make it difficult to achieve greater American consensus
on how the United States should position itself to meet the challenges China poses.
Within these caveats, then, this report seeks to lay a basic framework for
congressional policymakers to understand China’s international engagement and
address what it may mean for U.S. interests.
The Concept of “Soft Power”
The term “soft power” originally was conceived in 1990 by Harvard Professor
Joseph S. Nye, Jr.. Nye argued that the United States had reserves of power and
influence that were separate from “hard power,” or military force projection. He
expanded greatly on this concept in his book Soft Power: The Means to Success in
World Politics — partly, he said, from the frustration of watching “some policy
makers ignore the importance of our soft power and make us all pay the price by
unnecessarily squandering it.”⁹ According to Nye, soft power is crucially important
in today’s world politics and is significantly more than just the trappings of a national
culture:
Soft power rests on the ability to shape the preferences of others.... [It] is the
ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments.
It arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals, and
policies. When our policies are seen as legitimate in the eyes of others, our soft¹⁰
power is enhanced. America has long had a great deal of soft power...
By Nye’s definition emphasizing the “attractiveness” of a country’s culture and
values, American soft power remains formidable. Some define the components of
soft power more broadly than Nye, to include not only the “attractiveness” of a
country’s policies but also its international trade practices, overseas investments,
development assistance, diplomatic initiatives, cultural influence, humanitarian aid

⁸ “Whither China: From Membership to Responsibility?” Speech by Deputy Secretary of
State Robert B. Zoellick to the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, September 21,

2005.

⁹ Nye, Jr., Joseph S., Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, Public Affairs,
NY, 2004, p. XI.
¹⁰ Nye, Jr., Joseph S., p. 5, p. X.

and disaster relief, education, and travel and tourism. Even according to this broader
definition, American global power remains massive.
But according to another view, American soft power has declined in the 21^st
century. In absolute terms, some believe this perceived decline is the result of the
United States’ own policies and actions. One former U.S. government official has
speculated that although America has huge remaining reserves of soft power, these
reserves have become a “non-renewable resource” given current U.S. policies.¹¹
Others point to multiple global survey results on international views of the United
States, saying “the downward trend is unmistakable.”¹² As Nye himself puts it:
Anti-Americanism has increased in recent years and the United States’ soft
power... is in decline as a result....A Eurobarometer poll found that a majority of
Europeans believes that Washington has hindered efforts to fight global poverty,
protect the environment, and maintain peace. Such attitudes undercut soft power,¹³
reducing the ability of the United States to achieve its goals....
Others have attributed the perceived decline in American soft power as relative
— largely a comparative decline based on the rise of other powers — in particular
the rapid emergence of China as a U.S. “peer competitor” and a growing source of
international influence, investment, and political and economic clout. China is seen
to be trying to project soft power by portraying its own system as an alternative
model for economic development that does not require compliance with western
standards. Economic development without the restrictions and demands that come
with political liberalization proves attractive to some authoritarian governments
ruled by elites. Furthermore, according to this view, soft power is ephemeral; the
United States has recovered from loss of prestige and influence before (such as
occurred with the Vietnam War), and it will again. For this reason, they say, China’s
apparent soft power gains should not be blown out of proportion.
Presumed PRC Foreign Policy Goals
Within the ongoing international debate about what China’s ultimate intentions
may be, there is broader consensus on some of the fundamental objectives that appear
to be at least partial motivations for Beijing’s current international outreach.
However, adding to the uncertainty about PRC policies, these objectives at times are
in contradiction. China’s policy direction is that much harder to predict when some
of these key policy objectives are seen to clash, and experience suggests that abrupt
shifts in policy, shifts which remain unexplained in many cases, still occur with a fair
degree of regularity in the PRC system. This may be the result of a fundamental
incoherence in PRC policy goals. More likely, it reflects the internal disagreements
and varying priorities of the various political and bureaucratic players in the PRC

¹¹ Conversation with former Ambassador Charles W. Freeman, Jr., 2007.
¹² Kurlantzick, Joshua, “The Decline of American Soft Power,” in Current History,
December 2005, p. 419.
¹³ Nye, Joseph S., “The Decline of America’s Soft Power: Why Washington Should Worry,”
in Foreign Affairs, May/June 2004, p. 16.

system. In this political struggle, some may win, some may lose, and often all may
compromise.
Enhancing Sustainable Economic Growth. Strong economic
development continues to be seen as the core primary objective for the PRC
leadership for a host of reasons — not the least of which are to raise the living
standards of its enormous population, to dampen social disaffection about economic
and other inequities, and to sustain regime legitimacy after the erosion of Communist
ideology as an acceptable organizing principle. China’s annual economic growth
rates routinely are in the double digits; in 2007, China reached an annual rate of 11.4¹⁴
percent — the highest since 1994. This rapid and sustained economic growth has
created voracious domestic appetites for resources, capital, and technology, as well
as for markets for Chinese goods, all of which have served as powerful drivers of
China’s international trade and investment agreements.
In energy sources alone, for example, China became a net importer in 1995 —
it became a net importer of oil in 1993 — and its energy demands are expected to
continue increasing at an annual rate of four to five percent through at least 2015,¹⁵
compared to an annual rate of about one percent in industrialized countries. China
steadily and successfully has sought trade agreements, oil and gas contracts, scientific
and technological cooperation, and de-facto multilateral security arrangements with
countries both around its periphery and around the world. In Africa, Asia, and Latin
America, where China is most active, access to energy resources and raw
commodities to fuel China’s domestic growth plays a dominant role in Beijing’s
activities. China has oil and gas exploration contracts with Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia,
Colombia, Venezuela, and Cuba; oil contracts and pipeline deals are a major part of
China’s relations with Central Asian states such as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan;
and China’s oil exploration interests extend to Burma, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
Imports of crude oil constitute the bulk of China’s imports from African states.
Squeezing Taiwan’s International Space. In addition to economic and
resource-related imperatives, China’s outreach into Latin America and the Caribbean,
Africa, and the Pacific incorporates the political dynamic of trying to separate Taiwan
from its remaining diplomatic relationships. China claims that Taiwan is part of its
sovereign territory, and for decades has tried to make acknowledgment of this “one
China” policy a condition for receiving Chinese investment and assistance. All but
one of Taiwan’s remaining 23 official relationships are in Africa, Asia, and Latin
America. With China’s dynamic economic growth in recent decades, it effectively
has been able to “outbid” Taiwan in courting a number of these governments. Taiwan
lost four of its diplomatic relationships to this competition in the last three years,
including the loss of official relations with Malawi on January 14, 2008.

¹⁴ Xie Fuzhan, Commissioner, National Bureau of Statistics of China, “The National
Economy Maintained a Steady and Fast Growth in 2007,” January 24, 2008.
¹⁵ “China’s Energy Production and Consumption,” Energy Information Administration
(EIA); Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government. [http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/
cabs/china/part2.html ].

The Taiwan factor is not uniformly significant in China’s global relationships.
While the Taiwan issue is important in China’s African relationships, it is not
important in China’s relations with Central Asian countries, where Taiwan has no
official diplomatic relations, nor of comparable importance in China’s relationships
with Southeast Asian countries, where Taiwan has significant economic interests but
again no diplomatic ties. And Taiwan is a very important factor — even perhaps the
only one — in China’s courtship of the 6 tiny Pacific Island nations that still have
official relations with Taiwan. Although the United States and Europe (save for the
Vatican) do not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, periodic tensions with China
over U.S. and EU statements and actions with respect to Taiwan continue to affect
bilateral relationships.
Taiwan-PRC competition looms largest in China’s relationships in Latin
America and the Caribbean. Not only is this where Taiwan maintains most of its
remaining official diplomatic ties, but the region’s proximity to the U.S. mainland
allows Taiwan’s president and senior leaders to ask for controversial but
symbolically meaningful transit stops in the United States when making official visits
to these western hemisphere countries. A significant reduction, or even the
disappearance, of Taiwan’s Latin America and Caribbean relationships could impair
this convenient Taiwan-U.S. connection.
On an entirely different level, Taiwan also is a potentially important factor in
China’s activities with U.S. allies in Asia — Japan and Australia, especially, but also
Korea and the Philippines. While all of these countries recognize the PRC and not
Taiwan, as U.S. allies and hosts of U.S. military facilities they potentially could
become a factor in any U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan. In 2005, for instance, the
United States and Japan declared for the first time that Taiwan is a mutual security
concern, implying a new Japanese willingness to confront China over Taiwan. It is
in China’s interests, then, to use its diplomatic and economic activities to exert quiet
pressure on these U.S. allies to stay out of any possible conflict over Taiwan.
Maneuvering against Taiwan — and ultimately “recovering” it — provides one
of the key contradictions in China’s foreign policy objectives, as it is an issue that
appears to trump other key policy goals. Chinese officials have said, for instance,
that they will “pay any price” to prevent Taiwan independence, although this would
jeopardize the otherwise key imperative of assuring strong economic growth, not to
mention risking armed confrontation with the United States.¹⁶ But — again perhaps
reflecting internal disagreements among PRC political actors — PRC policies toward
Taiwan also have evolved over time into as much carrot as stick. PRC leaders have
toned down their rhetoric, holding out economic incentives and agreeing to resume
cross-strait talks.

¹⁶ This particular statement was made by defense attache Sun Yifan on August 1, 2007,
speaking in Cuba on the 80^th anniversary of the founding of the PLA. Xinhua, August 2,
2007, but other PRC officials similarly have stressed China’s resolve on the matter of
Taiwan.

Table 1. Taiwan’s 23 Official Relationships
(As of April 2008)
Latin America and the CaribbeanBelize, Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
(12)Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Panama, Paraguay, St. Kitts and Nevis, St.
Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Africa (4) Burkina Faso, Gambia, Sao Tome and
Principe, and Swaziland
The Pacific (6)Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau,
the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu
Europe (1)The Vatican
Maintaining Regional and International Stability. In pursuit of its goal
of sustainable economic development, China also has placed a high priority on
maintaining a “peaceful international environment” both regionally and
internationally. A White Paper issued by the State Council in December 2005
emphasized the point: “China’s development needs a peaceful international
environment.”¹⁷ To this end, PRC leaders have sought to reassure other countries
that China’s economic development is an opportunity for, rather than threat to, its
neighbors. These reassurances have taken on many forms. Chinese leaders have
characterized Chinese investments as a “win-win” situation, with benefits flowing
to both China and to recipient countries. Beijing has sought to resolve outstanding
border disputes, as with Russia and India, and to ease tensions with its neighbors over
competing territorial claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere. The PRC also
has more assertively cooperated on regional initiatives such as the Six Party Talks
and joint anti-terror activities.
The United States, China’s primary export market, also has been a focus for
PRC “peaceful environment” initiatives, with Beijing seen to be placing a high
priority in keeping stable and relatively tension-free bilateral relations. Some
analysts suggest that this priority is behind Beijing’s decision in 2003 to tone down
its anti-U.S. rhetoric and criticism and instead to emphasize China’s “peaceful rise”
on the world stage.¹⁸ According to this view, Beijing calculates that even the
appearance of a more overt pursuit of its regional and global interests could prompt
the United States to strengthen its alliances and form other groupings to
counterbalance and deter China’s international outreach. Such a development could
fetter China’s economic growth.
Increasing International Stature and Competing with U.S.
Supremacy. After decades of international isolation, PRC leaders are presumed

¹⁷ “China’s Peaceful Development Road,” White Paper, State Council Information Office,
December 22, 2005.
¹⁸ Sutter, Robert, Chinese Foreign Relations, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2008,
p. 82.

to place a high priority on expanding and improving China’s global stature and
influence and, where they can, on limiting or constraining the ability of the United
States to interfere with or adversely affect PRC interests. Having come late to the
global economic development party, China is seeking multiple international
partnerships and groupings that make it, if not an indispensable player in the global
system, then at least one whose interests must regularly be taken into account.¹⁹
Having embraced the international system, Beijing is seen to be maneuvering deftly
for space and opportunities not already taken up by the United States — opportunities
where it can have greater freedom of action. The PRC has not put into place a formal
system of alliances like that of the United States. Some say this demonstrates
Beijing’s innate reluctance to assume the risks, costs, and commitments that come
with world leadership.²⁰ Instead, the PRC has limited its risks by depending on a
number of other less direct frameworks for its global interactions. These include
efforts to act:
Through Bilateral Initiatives. On a bilateral basis throughout Latin
America, Asia, the United States, Europe, and Africa, PRC leaders have established
Strategic Partnership Agreements, Friendship and Cooperative Partnership
Agreements, Friendship Associations, and Free Trade Agreements, among other
vehicles, to reinforce the notion that special economic relationships exist between
China and the recipient countries. “Chinese Friendship Associations” abound all
over the world, including with individual U.S. states. In 2004, PRC leaders created
the “Confucius Institute” — a non-profit program to teach Chinese language and
promote Chinese culture around the world.²¹ Beijing opened its first Confucius
Institute in Seoul, Korea, in November 2004; by the end of 2007, the PRC had 203
Confucius Institutes around the world, including 40 in the United States.²² China
also has expanded the use of Approved Destination Status (ADS) — a bilateral
tourism arrangement it maintains with selected other countries that facilitates Chinese²³
group tourism.
Through Existing Multilateral Organizations. In addition to bilateral
initiatives, China increasingly has grown more active in international multilateral
organizations that it formerly suspected to be U.S.-dominated institutions that would
try to constrain and exploit PRC interests. China now participates more confidently
in the United Nations, the World Bank, and other entities. Beijing is even seen to be
seeking to employ what one specialist calls a “Gulliver Strategy” that tries to tie

¹⁹ Goldstein, Avery, Rising to the Challenge: China’s Grand Strategy and International
Security, Stanford University Press, 2005.
²⁰ This argument is made by Tang Shiping and Zhang Yunling, in “China’s Regional
Strategy,” Power Shift, David Shambaugh, ed., University of California Press, 2005.
²¹ The program is under the auspices of The Office of Chinese Language Council
International.
²² This from the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, January 2008.
²³ An ADS status means that local Chinese “package” tour operators will be able to sell tours
in the designated ADS country. Authorization of group tours tends to increase the number
of tourists to ADS-designated countries.

down the U.S. giant in constraining international agreements.²⁴ China also has
successfully sought entry in one form or another to existing regional groupings in
Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. These include
^!Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, where China
has been a full member since 1991 (the United States is also a
member)
^!ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) — established in 1994, where
China is increasing its participation (the United States has been
criticized in recent years when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
skipped some ARF meetings, instead sending lower-level officials)
^!Forum for East Asia and Latin American Cooperation
(FOCALAE) — established in 2001, where China is a full member
(the United States is not a member)
^!Organization of American States (OAS) — where China was
invited to be a permanent observer in 2004 (the United States is a
full member)
Through New Multilateral Institutions. Finally, China has sought to
devise new multilateral organizations to support its own interests and expand its
international influence. The United States has not been invited to join these new
institutions.
^!East Asia Summit (EAS). In 2005, China helped launch the first
East Asia Summit (EAS), a fledgling grouping of 16 Asian and
Pacific powers including China, the ten members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, South Korea, India,
Australia, and New Zealand. The United States is not a participant.²⁵²⁶
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attended as an invited observer.
^!Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). With the Central
Asian countries of the former Soviet Union, including Russia, China
has pursued both economic and security arrangements through the
SCO, another new organization founded in 2001 without U.S.
participation.²⁷ Within the SCO context, China has cooperated on
border enforcement, signed pipeline and rail link agreements, and
conducted joint military maneuvers.

²⁴ Sutter, p. 62.
²⁵ First established in 1967, ASEAN in 2008 includes Brunei-Darassalam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and
Vietnam. The United States maintains military alliances with the Philippines and Thailand,
and has significant naval and air base arrangements with Singapore.
²⁶ See CRS Report RL33242, East Asia Summit (EAS): Issues for Congress, by Bruce
Vaughn.
²⁷ The SCO is a more recent expansion of the “Shanghai Five” formed in 1997. SCO
members include China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

^!Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC). In 2000,
China and African countries formed the China-Africa Cooperation
Forum proposing that the FOCAC meet every three years to seek
mutual economic development and cooperation. Representatives
from 45 of Africa’s 55 countries attended the FOCAC’s first
Ministerial Conference in October of that same year; the third
FOCAC meeting was in Beijing in early November 2006.
Membership is limited only to African countries and the PRC.
Competitive Advantages of PRC “Soft Power”
Whether one is reading press accounts and scholarly treatises or traveling
through the regions where Beijing is active, China seems to be everywhere. It is
tempting for some to become alarmist, magnifying presumed PRC strengths as well
as perceived U.S. weaknesses. Many concerned observers focus on the competitive
strengths that PRC soft power has in relation to the United States, pointing out that
the PRC international approach is particularly strong in areas where the U.S. political
system and U.S. values make it less competitive. Some suggest that these PRC
strengths have a brighter future in today’s global economy, meaning that China will
have increasing economic and political soft power clout internationally at the expense
of the United States. Still, a closer look at some of the PRC’s presumed assets
suggests that they may have downsides as well.
“No Strings”. The recipient governments of PRC trade and investment are
particularly attracted to the fact that Chinese money generally comes with none of
the good governance requirements, human rights conditions, approved-project
restrictions, and environmental quality regulations that characterize U.S. and other
Western government investments. With an authoritarian government that has few if
any democratic imperatives, China has capitalized on its willingness to make such
“unrestricted” international investments part of its “win-win” international strategy.
(PRC leaders do not appear to define their demand that a country adopt a “one-
China” policy, nor their frequent insistence on use of Chinese companies, suppliers,
and banks, as such restrictions.)
In response to the December 2006 military coup in Fiji, for instance, Beijing
promised to continue its aid programs on the grounds that the coup was Fiji’s
“internal” affair. China markets this capacity internationally as a key competitive
advantage to Western capital — one that is both more efficient and less intrusive for
the recipients. And the unrestricted nature of PRC investments resonates with many
foreign governments. According to one African leader, for instance:
... I have found that a contract that would take five years to discuss, negotiate and
sign with the World Bank takes three months when we have dealt with Chinese
authorities. I am a firm believer in good governance and the rule of law. But
when bureaucracy and senseless red tape impede our ability to act — and when

poverty persists while international functionaries drag their feet — African²⁸
leaders have an obligation to opt for swifter solutions.
The World Bank and Western governments may be able to increase the
efficiency of their international investment processes and reduce attending red tape
to compete with these PRC advantages. But Beijing’s willingness to make
unrestricted investments while holding the recipients to no standards can be seen as
implicitly validating the policies of the often authoritarian recipient governments.
Such a “hands-off” approach could have negative longer-term implications for how
the PRC is viewed within the countries in which it is investing, particularly if the
authoritarian leaders in question later fall to a more democratic government. On
balance then, China’s “no strings” approach may have potential negative
consequences that could counterbalance any soft power advantages.
The Benefits of State-Owned Assets. The PRC is thought to reap soft-
power advantages by having much of its foreign investment carried out by its strong
state-owned sector, given monopoly status by the Chinese government. These state
corporations lack transparency, have deep pockets backed by government assets, and
operate without the constraints that come with having to issue a corporate annual
report. Unlike U.S. corporations investing overseas, who lack this close government
patronage and in addition must answer to their shareholders, PRC state-owned
companies have the luxury of being able to take a longer-term, strategic view — one
more closely integrated with national priorities — without having to demonstrate
short-term profits. There may be potential negative consequences. Some hold that
there is a certain discipline in having to adhere to the bottom line. PRC state-owned
companies, lacking this built-in discipline, sometimes are seen to have paid above-
market prices for their oil and gas contracts and to have entered into unprofitable
initial arrangements in order to improve bilateral relations and facilitate future
contracts. In addition, Chinese SOE’s have a high retained earnings rate and a
notable aversion to paying dividends to their largely government-controlled
shareholders. Concerned about this trend, the Chinese Securities Regulatory
Commission in 2004 and 2005 enacted regulations designed to force higher dividend
payouts, targeting SOEs with positive profits but no dividend payouts over a three-²⁹
year period.
Limitations on PRC Soft Power
Even if its international outreach is entirely benign and centered on economic
growth, the PRC’s potential to expand quickly to consumption and production levels
comparable to those of the United States presents profound challenges to American
and global interests. Other projections tend to minimize or overlook other
limitations and complications that confront China’s overseas activities. Recognition
of these and other limitations of PRC influence may help shape a more effective U.S.
response.

²⁸ Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade, in “Time for the west to practise [sic] what it
preaches,” Financial Times, January 24, 2008, p. 6.
²⁹ Morck, et al., p. 19.

Advantage, U.S. Although China has expanded impressively the pace and
scope of its international activities, its achievements pale in comparison to the long-
standing and comprehensive global involvement of the United States. In many cases,
where China is newly arriving, the United States is already entrenched. Beijing has
been forced often to accommodate itself to the realities of a strong U.S. presence.
This was the case, for instance, in the East Asian Summit (EAS), a forum Beijing
originally hoped would lead to greater PRC dominance in East Asia at U.S. expense.
But other EAS participants, wary Asia would become divided into Chinese and
American blocs, opposed PRC attempts to craft a more exclusive group with itself
as the dominant member. Southeast Asian participants in the EAS succeeded in
including India, Australia, and New Zealand as counterweights to Chinese power.
In other cases, PRC actions in a given country do not always lead to Beijing’s
desired objective. For instance, the PRC tried in 2005 to condition its support for
renewing the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti on that country’s severing of
relations with Taiwan. This was unsuccessful, and Haiti in 2008 continues to have
diplomatic relations with Taiwan. In another example, the PRC’s efforts to extend
its influence in Central Asia through formation of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization did not prevent individual SCO member countries from hosting U.S.
military forces after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Moreover, PRC foreign policy success sometimes is constrained by the fact that the
countries Beijing is courting have other, more complex foreign policy interests.
According to one study of U.N. voting records, for example, a country’s increased
dependence on trade with China does not appear to affect its willingness to vote³⁰
against PRC interests in the United Nations.
The Narrow Base of PRC Achievements. In general, China’s new “win-
win” approach to international interactions is based on a self-interested approach that
focuses only on those issues on which all sides supposedly can agree. Easy things
are taken care of first, while inconvenient and difficult things are postponed, possibly
indefinitely. Racking up trade and investment agreements in this way, while creating
symbolically significant headlines, nevertheless leaves a lack of depth in China’s
overall relationships. Moreover, as already mentioned, China’s lack of transparency
raises consistent doubts about whether the levels of aid and investment triumphantly
announced are the levels of aid and investment actually disbursed.
To cite one example, China initially reported that it pledged $63 million in
assistance to Indonesia and other countries affected by the 2004 tsunami, a figure
dwarfed by the $405 million pledged by the United States. A later article in a PRC
publication, however, put the actual amount of PRC tsunami assistance at $22.6
million.³¹ PRC foreign policy achievements may be constrained if Beijing continues
to short-change its intended recipient governments in this way. U.S. observers may

³⁰ The study, an examination of U.N. voting records from 1991 — 2003, conducted in 2006
by the Inter-American Dialogue, is discussed more fully in the Latin America section of this
memo.
³¹ Xing Zhigang, “China pledges to increase humanitarian aid,” China Daily, January 19,

2006. Cited also in Sutter, p. 108.

want to be cautious, then, about the initial headlines of PRC involvement and more
mindful of the degree of follow-through.
A “win-win” strategy may prove a slender reed for maximizing comprehensive
soft power. The soft power potential that the PRC can hope to gain from such a
strategy pales next to the national capacity and willingness of the United States to
take on costly and forlorn global tasks such as international disaster aid — to
demonstrate a willingness, in the words of Tony Blair, “to be the recipient of every
demand, to be called upon in every crisis, to be expected always and everywhere to
do what needs to be done.”³² Nothing in Beijing’s current international engagement
to date suggests it is willing to embrace such altruism.
The Complications of an International Presence. Even with a “win-
win” strategy, acquiring and maintaining an enhanced international presence brings
with it certain complications. Among other things, it provides almost innumerable
opportunities for international misunderstanding, resentment, cultural backlash,
kidnappings, hard feelings, murders, and other assorted repercussions. Cultural
backlash and resentment may be heightened by the style that PRC overseas
investments and construction projects have pursued to date — involving the
substantial import of Chinese workers and supplies and the use of Chinese companies
instead of using local companies or the indigenous population. Chinese overseas
operations already have begun to experience fallout from their activities: PRC oil
drilling sites and well-workers have been attacked, kidnapped, or killed in Sudan,
Somalia, Nigeria, and elsewhere in Africa. Some Central Asia countries have grown
concerned about the level of energy assets that China has been accruing within their
borders and have moved to limit such acquisitions. In some Asian countries with
large ethnic Chinese populations, there has been push-back against perceived
“Chinese” businesses and other interests. As China’s international activities expand,
confrontations along these lines are likely to increase, possibly garnering unfavorable
publicity for the PRC and putting stress on the “win-win” approach.
Foreign entanglements also could raise political problems at home for PRC
policymakers. The increasing availability of Internet and cell phone use assures that
growing numbers of Chinese citizens have more access to information, including
information about China’s international activities. Confirmation that China is
investing millions of dollars in overseas projects, while at home unemployment rises
and infrastructure development lags, may prove objectionable to the hundreds of
millions of PRC citizens still living below the poverty line — much the way many
Americans sometimes react to U.S. overseas investment.
The “Private Sector” Calculation. As noted above, Beijing is seen to have
advantages over the United States in that its overseas activities and investments are
conducted by strong, well-funded state-owned companies. These large PRC
government activities attract much international attention and give a “hard” edge to
PRC soft power. The United States has little to match such centrally directed
initiatives, particularly in the wake of years of U.S. budget cutbacks in high-profile

³² Prime Minister Tony Blair, “Doctrine of the International Community,” in a speech before
the Chicago Economic Club, April 22, 1999.

U.S. international public diplomacy programs.³³ But comparing only government-
directed and -funded activities overlooks the huge advantage the United States has
in the extent of its substantial global private-sector presence. In addition to U.S.
business interests, American products, schools, newspapers, journals, banks, movies,
TV programs, novels, rock stars, medical institutions, politicians, Chambers of
Commerce, state governments, religious groups, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), and other American institutions and values are liberally scattered over the
global map. While this U.S. presence is diverse, uncoordinated, not centrally
directed, and at times triggers anti-American feelings, it nevertheless leaves a
substantial global footprint.
China’s Foreign Contacts
A brief survey of China’s more assertive diplomacy in the international arena
hints at the increasing Sino-U.S. competition for resources, power, and influence
around the world.
Asia. China’s improved relationships with its regional neighbors are
particularly visible. In 2005, China took part in the first East Asia Summit (EAS) —
a fledgling grouping of 16 Asian and Pacific powers including China, the ten
members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, South
Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand, but not including the United States.
Russia’s President Putin attended as an invited observer.³⁴ The second EAS meeting,
hosted by the Philippines, began on January 15, 2007. The 16 nations reached new
agreements to facilitate the eventual formation of a free-trade bloc and in addition
signed the Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security, pledging cooperation on
developing renewable energy supplies and promoting cuts in greenhouse gas³⁵
emissions.
For decades prior to the mid-1990s, Sino-ASEAN relations were characterized
by recurring clashes over territorial disputes, diplomatic deadlocks, and ASEAN³⁶
concerns about China’s military ambitions and regional economic competitiveness.
The 2005 EAS meeting is part of a trend in growing Sino-ASEAN regional
cooperation. In addition to being included in an economic partnership in the ASEAN
Plus Three (APT) grouping (including also Japan and South Korea, two U.S. military
allies), China signed a free trade agreement with ASEAN in November 2004. Under
the agreement, beginning July 1, 2005, the parties started lowering or cancelling
tariffs on 7,000 items, with the goal of reaching full mutual free trade by 2010.

³³ The U.S. Information Agency (USIA), for example, was zeroed out as an independent
agency in 1999 and integrated into the U.S. Department of State under the Foreign Affairs
Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998.
³⁴ See CRS Report RL33242, East Asia Summit (EAS): Issues for Congress, by Bruce
Vaughn.
³⁵ BBC News (international version), “East Asia stages inaugural summit,” December 14,

2005.

³⁶ For background, see CRS Report RL31183, China’s Maritime Territorial Claims:
Implications for U.S. Interests, coordinated by Kerry Dumbaugh.

Largely as a result of this, Sino-ASEAN two-way trade increased to more than $160
billion in 2006, up 23% from 2005. On January 14, 2007, China and ASEAN signed
a new trade agreement on services, considered a major step toward eventual
completion of a Sino-ASEAN free trade agreement.³⁷
Within ASEAN, China’s relations with Burma are unique, as Beijing has
provided the Burmese government with substantial military, economic, and
infrastructure development assistance. According to a reported internal Department
of Defense (DOD) document, Beijing is building naval bases in Burma that will give
China its only access to the Indian Ocean.³⁸ These close relations are one explanation
for why the PRC vetoed a U.S.-sponsored U.N. Security Council resolution
criticizing Burma’s human rights record on January 12, 2007.³⁹
China also has improved its bilateral relationship with India, with which it
fought several border wars in the 1960s, and with Central Asia. On January 24,
2005, China and India began a “strategic dialogue,” discussing terrorism, resource
competition, and the U.S. role in Asia.⁴⁰ Cooperation was increased on May 29,
2006, when the two countries signed a “Memorandum of Understanding Between the
Ministries of Defence of China and India Regarding Interaction and Cooperation in
the Area of Defence.”⁴¹ Under the agreement, the two countries conducted a nine-
day joint anti-terrorism exercise in Kunming in December 2007, dubbed “Hand in
Hand 2007.”
With the Central Asian countries of the former Soviet Union, China has pursued
both economic and security arrangements through the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO), founded in 2001. Within the SCO context, China has
cooperated on border enforcement, signed pipeline and rail link agreements, and
conducted joint military maneuvers. China also has negotiated energy deals with
Australia, another U.S. regional ally, to supply liquid natural gas to southern China,
and is continuing to explore a Sino-Australian free trade agreement. China’s growing
regional and global importance to Australia has generated a public backlash there
against what is perceived as an increasingly hard-line U.S. policy stance toward
China.⁴²
Japan. For years, Japan, considered the most important American ally in Asia,
was a notable exception to China’s regional diplomatic achievements. China

³⁷ See CRS Report RL32688, China-Southeast Asian Relations: Trends, Issues, and
Implications for the United States, by Bruce Vaughn and Wayne Morrison.
³⁸ The internal DOD report was cited by a Washington Times reporter. Gertz, Bill, “China
Builds up Strategic Sea Lanes,” Washington Times, January 18, 2005.
³⁹ The veto was only the fifth that Beijing has exercised in the U.N. Security Council.
⁴⁰ For more, see the “China” section of CRS Report RL33529, India-U.S. Relations, by Alan
Kronstadt.
⁴¹ BBC Monitoring, “Chinese agency on first ever joint antiterrorism exercise with India,”
December 23, 2007, originally reported by Xinhua, Li Jianmin and Liu Yonghua, “China
and India Conduct First Joint Army Antiterrorism Training ‘Hand in Hand.’”
⁴² See CRS Report RL33010, Australia: Background and U.S. Relations, by Bruce Vaughn.

routinely protested former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s annual visits
to the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are also enshrined. After Koizumi first
visited the shrine in 2001, China used the issue to justify its refusal to engage in
bilateral summitry, except as part of multilateral meetings. But improvements in
Sino-Japanese relations began with the visit to China of Japan’s then new Prime
Minister, Shinzo Abe, on October 8, 2006. The trip to the PRC was Prime Minister
Abe’s first foreign visit as Prime Minister. In April 2007, PRC Premier Wen Jiabao
visited Japan, and President Hu Jintao in May 2008 became only the second PRC
President to visit Japan.⁴³ In what was seen as a very successful visit, President Hu
made a five-point proposal to enhance mutual cooperation, expand cultural
exchanges, and strengthen “mutual strategic trust.”⁴⁴
As with other Asian countries, China’s trading relations with Japan have
expanded. In 2004, China (including Hong Kong) surpassed the United States as
Japan’s largest trading partner.⁴⁵ But the political relationship remains hampered by
the residual resentments of Japan’s conquest and occupation of China during World
War II. Many Chinese leaders remain suspicious of Japan’s recent attempts to
become a more “normal nation” by becoming more diplomatically assertive and by
expanding its military capabilities. Some in Beijing have criticized the Bush
Administration for supporting or even encouraging these trends in Japan.⁴⁶
Furthermore, China’s growing economic competitiveness and expanding
regional presence at times have helped exacerbate its relations with Tokyo. China and
Japan have competed ferociously for access to Siberian oil, for instance, with each
vying to be the major winner in a pipeline contract with Russia. As a result of
China’s exploration activities in the Chunxiao Gas Field, in waters where Japan and
Taiwan also have territorial claims, Tokyo has begun its own exploration activities
in and around the Senkakus. Tensions also have affected China’s oil explorations in
areas of the East China Sea over which Japan also claims sovereignty. But these
lingering tensions also seem to have abated in 2008. On June 18, 2008, China and
Japan announced a “consensus” on joint exploration for oil in the East China Sea,
as well as an “understanding” on Japanese participation in development of the
Chunxiao field.
Russia. Energy resources and security issues also factor heavily into China’s
relations with Russia, where as noted above Beijing and Tokyo are in an ongoing
competition for Siberian oil access. Russian President Vladimir Putin and PRC
President Hu Jintao held multiple meetings in 2006 during “The Year of Russia in
China,” with President Putin in March of that year announcing plans to open a gas

⁴³ See CRS Report RL33436, Japan-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress, coordinated by
Emma Chanlett-Avery.
⁴⁴ “Special Report: President Hu Visits Japan,” www.xinhuanet.com, May 8, 2008.
⁴⁵ In 2004, China did $213 billion in trade with Japan. Sato, Shigeru, “Cooperate with
Japan, Don’t Compete,” Dow Jones Chinese Financial Wire, February 3, 2005.
⁴⁶ See CRS Report RL32466, Rising Energy Competition and Energy Security in Northeast
Asia: Issues for U.S. Policy, by Emma Chanlett-Avery.

pipeline to China within five years.⁴⁷ Regular bilateral visits have continued, with
President Dmitry Medvedev making his first official visit to China on May 26, 2008.
Russian leaders also meet regularly with PRC leaders through the forum of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where Russia is one of the six members.
Prohibited from purchasing military weapons from the West since the 1989
Tiananmen Square crackdown, China has been heavily dependent on arms purchases
from Russia in the intervening years to fuel its military build-up. But international
arms sales experts say this may be changing. According to a well-known arms
transfers database, China’s arms imports from Russia have dropped 62 percent in
2007 — perhaps reflecting the growing sophistication of the PRC’s own defense
industry.⁴⁸ Still, security cooperation remains a part of Sino-Russia relations. On
February 2, 2005, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and visiting PRC State
Councillor Tang Jiaxuan announced that their two countries would begin holding
regular security consultations.⁴⁹ According to Councillor Tang, China considers
Russia its “main partner for strategic cooperation,” and he emphasized that this was
the first time that China had ever established national security consultations with a
foreign government. The two countries held eight days of joint military exercises,
dubbed “Peace Mission 2005.” The exercises began August 18, 2005, and involved
as many as 10,000 Chinese troops and 1,800 Russian troops.⁵⁰
In 2007, Russia and China participated in “Peace Mission 2007,” a joint anti-
terrorist military exercise conducted by the members of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) — exercises that the SCO later announced would become a
regular event.⁵¹ Despite lingering historical tensions between the PRC and Russia,
both countries are widely thought to be seeking mutual common ground as a
counterweight to U.S. global power.
European Union. In recent years, China has courted the European Union
(EU) intensively, and Sino-EU contacts have broadened significantly as a result. On
October 24, 2006, the European Commission released a new paper to the European
Parliament entitled “EU-China: Closer Partners, Growing Responsibilities.” The
document reinforced the trends remarked upon several years ago by European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso — that the EU considers China a
“strategic partner” and has made developing Sino-EU ties “one of our top foreign

⁴⁷ “Russia plans natural gas pipeline to China,” Associated Press, March 21, 2006.
⁴⁸ Dr. Paul Holtom, The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms
Transfers Data for 2007. [http://www.sipri.org/contents/armstrad/PR_AT_data_2007.html]
⁴⁹ “Russia, China Tighten Security Links,” China Daily, February 3, 2005.
⁵⁰ Lukin, Michael, “Peace Mission 2005: a 1970s Template for Sino-Russian
‘Peacekeeping,’” Moscow Defense Brief, Centre for Analysis of Strategies and
Technologies.
⁵¹ The announcement was made by SCO secretary General Bolat Nurgaliyev in February
2008. “The SCO exercise to become regular — secretary general,” Russia & CIS Military
Newswire, 2008 Interfax Information Services, February 29, 2008.

policy objectives in the years to come.”⁵² On January 18, 2007, the European
Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, delivered a speech
in Beijing entitled “The EU and China: Moving Forward.” In it, the Commissioner
renewed a 2005 call for the post-Tiananmen Square EU arms embargo against China
to be lifted — an embargo the United States continues to maintain.⁵³ The 2005 EU
attempt to lift the embargo eventually was shelved after substantial U.S. and
congressional opposition.⁵⁴
In November 2007, the EU and China held the Tenth China-EU Summit in
Beijing. At the summit, the EU reaffirmed its commitment to the “one-China”
policy, expressing its hope for a peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s status. EU and PRC
leaders also agreed, among other things, to continued cooperation on enhanced
political dialogue, human rights, and non-proliferation and disarmament, and
addressing climate change; and support for a strong multilateral system with a central
role by the United Nations.⁵⁵
Middle East and Africa. For years, China reportedly has sold missile
technology and other sensitive materials to countries of security concern to the
United States, such as Iran, Syria, Libya, and Iraq. More recently, China also is
becoming a major energy player in the Middle East with some of these same
countries. PRC negotiators, for instance, were able to sign significant oil deals with
Iran in 2004, including a proposal that allows a Chinese company develop Iran’s
Yadavaran oil field in exchange for China’s agreeing to buy Iranian liquefied natural
gas.⁵⁶ In addition, China’s trade with the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
countries has steadily increased in the last few years, going from $20 billion in 2004
to $58 billion in 2007; by comparison, U.S. total trade with the GCC in 2007 was⁵⁷
$72.1 billion. The PRC also has placed a premium on its relations in Africa, with
President Hu Jintao having embarked on his third trip to Africa in three years on⁵⁸
January 30, 2007. PRC relations with Sudan have been especially problematic for
the United States and other western countries, which have placed increasing pressure

⁵² [http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/china/summit_1204/ip04_1440.htm].
⁵³ The embargo was put in place in 1989 in response to the June 4, 1989 PRC crackdown
against peaceful demonstrations in and around Tiananmen Square.
⁵⁴ In an interview with the Financial Times on February 21, 2005, for example, Senator
Lugar, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he would support curbs
on sales of advanced military technology to EU countries unless the EU could give strong
assurances that advanced technologies would not be diverted to China should the embargo
be lifted.
⁵⁵ See Joint Statement from the summit, dated November 28, 2008, at
[http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms _Data/ docs/pressData/en/er/97355.pdf].
⁵⁶ Lee, Don, “China Barrels Ahead in Oil Market...,” Los Angeles Times, November 14,

2004, p. C-1.

⁵⁷ The six GCC countries are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain,
Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman. Statistics for two-way trade are from the World Trade Atlas
online database.
⁵⁸ President Hu visited South Africa, Sudan, Cameroon, Liberia, Zambia, Namibia,
Mozambique, and Seychelles.

on Beijing to influence the Sudanese government to do more to resolve the
humanitarian crisis in Darfur. While Chinese leaders say they have raised the issue
of Darfur (a statement made by President Hu again during his January-February 2007
trip), Beijing also has vowed to use its U.N. Security Council position to block
stronger U.N. sanctions on Sudan.
In 2000, China and African countries formed the China-Africa Cooperation
Forum (CACF), proposing meetings every three years to seek mutual economic
development and cooperation. Representatives from 45 of Africa’s 55 countries
attended the CACF’s first Ministerial Conference in October of that same year; the
third CACF meeting was in Beijing in early November 2006. China has also targeted
resource-rich African nations such as Sudan and Angola for energy-related
development.⁵⁹ Senior Chinese leaders in 2004 visited oil-producing states, including
Algeria and Gabon, and news reports early in 2005 alleged that a state-owned PRC
energy company, China Shine, planned to drill exploratory wells in a Namibian
concession that was once held by Occidental Petroleum.⁶⁰ China has also shown an
interest in iron ore deposits in Liberia and Gabon. In addition to resource-related
imperatives, some observers have suggested that there is a political dynamic to
China’s push into Africa, as four of the 23 countries that still maintain official
diplomatic relations with Taiwan are on the African continent.⁶¹
Western Hemisphere.⁶² Political dynamics are in play in China’s expanding
economic and trade relationships with Latin America and the Caribbean, where
another 12 countries still maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan.⁶³ In
addition, China’s growing presence in the region may have political and economic
consequences for the United States. In September 2004, China sent a “special
police” contingent to Haiti — one of Taiwan’s official relationships — marking
Beijing’s first deployment of forces ever in the Western Hemisphere. On November

18, 2005, Chile, after months of bilateral negotiations, signed the Sino-Chilean Free

⁵⁹ China objected to the U.N. vote threatening oil sanctions against Sudan unless it ceased
atrocities in the Darfur region. Ultimately, the PRC abstained on the September 19, 2004
vote, but promised to veto any future sanctions.
⁶⁰ Boxell, James, “Circle Oil in Dollars 50m Africa Drilling Deal with Chinese Group,”
Financial Times (London edition), January 28, 2005, p. 25.
⁶¹ In April 2008, Taiwan maintained official relations with Burkina Faso, Gambia, Sao Tome
and Principe, and Swaziland. Formerly, Senegal, Chad, and Malawi were three of Taiwan’s
official relationships; the first announced on October 25, 2005, that it was severing official
relations with Taiwan; the second on August 6, 2006; and the third, Malawi, in a five-point
memorandum with China on December 28, 2007.
⁶² See CRS Report RS22119, China’s Growing Interest in Latin America, by Kerry
Dumbaugh and Mark Sullivan.
⁶³ Taiwan’s official relations in the region include Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, St. Kitts
and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. On January 20, 2005, Grenada formally
ended its diplomatic relations with Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with the
PRC.

Trade Agreement (FTA). Beijing officials have said they hope the Sino-Chilean FTA
will become a model for similar agreements with other Latin American countries.⁶⁴
Energy concerns also play a role in China’s Latin-American diplomacy,
particularly in Venezuela, which now accounts for almost 15% of U.S. oil imports,
and in Brazil, with which China announced a $10 billion energy deal in November
2004.⁶⁵ As a consequence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s visit to Beijing
in December 2004 and PRC Vice-President Zeng Qinghong’s visit to Venezuela in
January 2005, the two countries reportedly signed a series of agreements that
committed the China National Petroleum Corporation to spend over $400 million to
develop Venezuelan oil and gas reserves.⁶⁶ Given the current poor state of U.S.-
Venezuelan relations under the Chavez government, some American observers worry
that Venezuelan energy agreements with China ultimately may serve to divert oil
from the United States.
Chinese economic and energy concerns extend to Canada. On January 20, 2005,
at the conclusion of Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin’s visit to China, the two
governments signed a series of agreements to promote international cooperation on
a range of issues and to make energy issues in particular — including gas, nuclear,
clean energy, and oil sources, primarily massive “oil sands” in Alberta — into
“priority areas” of mutual cooperation. Energy discussions are to be maintained
through the Canada-China Joint Working Group on Energy Cooperation, formed
under a 2001 memorandum of understanding. A large Canadian oil-pipeline
company, Enbridge, is said to be planning a major ($4 billion) pipeline project to
transport oil from Alberta’s oil-sands deposits to Canada’s west coast for shipment
to wider markets including China, although its PRC partner in the deal, PetroChina,
pulled out in 2007, citing repeated delays in the project.⁶⁷
Implications for U.S. Interests
A case can be made for accepting that the PRC’s international activities are what
Beijing claims them to be — a country’s natural and legitimate pursuit of peaceful
global opportunities for economic growth. Moreover, PRC interests appear to have
benefitted more substantially by operating within the current global system, of which
the United States is the chief architect, than by challenging it. Therefore, many argue
that China’s rise is not very negative for U.S. interests, which would best be served
by encouraging China’s further integration into the global system. This is the
position the George W. Bush Administration has come to embrace. Others disagree,

⁶⁴ Jiang Wei, “China-Chile FTA Talks Smooth,” China Daily, January 31, 2005, online at
[http://www.bilaterals.org/ article.php3?id_article=1237].
⁶⁵ The PRC is also investing in energy deals in Ecuador and in offshore projects in
Argentina, according to the New York Times, “China’s Oil Diplomacy in Latin America,”
March 1, 2005, p. 6.
⁶⁶ Bajpaee, Chietigi “China’s Quest for Energy Security,” Power and Interest News Report,
February 25, 2005, online at [http://www.pinr.com/].
⁶⁷ “Enbridge shrugs off loss of Chinese partner,” Canadian Press, for Business Edge, July

27, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 15.

holding that China’s growing international muscle, even if natural and benign in
intent, increasingly will compete with and even limit U.S. freedom to pursue
American global interests relatively unencumbered.
It also is possible to challenge the “benign rise” notion by pointing to historical
examples in the 19^th and 20^th centuries of confrontation and outright warfare between
reigning powers such as the United States and rising powers such as the PRC.
Through this more skeptical lens, the PRC presence in Latin America and the
Caribbean has particularly worrisome implications. It could help strengthen anti-U.S.
political leaders and actors in some countries; in the event of a possible U.S. military
conflict with China, PRC human and commercial infrastructure in Latin America
would be well placed to disrupt and distract the United States in the hemisphere and
to collect intelligence data against U.S. forces operating in the region.⁶⁸
Whichever of the above policy directions the PRC is traveling and whatever its
ultimate intentions, its international engagement and growing economic clout pose
demanding challenges and questions for U.S. policymakers. Some of these include:
^!How will the United States deal with increasing competition by
China for leverage and influence, not only in terms of new economic
and political international relationships, but for current U.S.
relationships with allies and other countries where U.S. influence to
date has been dominant? What role do U.S. alliances play in this
debate, and what is the role of U.S. relations with non-alliance
countries?
^!How detrimental is PRC “unrestricted” investment and assistance
for U.S. efforts to promote good governance around the world and
to limit corruption? How detrimental are the PRC’s perceived
advantages to the ability of U.S. companies to compete for
international business, and what policies and agreements should the
United States put in place to mitigate these effects? Can China be
persuaded to adhere closer to international norms and condition its
assistance more closely with good behavior?
^!What are the implications for U.S. global objectives and for
institutions that promote Western values, such as the IMF and the
World Bank, if the PRC increasingly begins to compete directly as
an international lender offering less encumbered assistance?
^!As the PRC increasingly expands its “hard power” assets — naval
and military power — to protect its growing international interests,
how much greater are the prospects for Sino-U.S. military
confrontation, either deliberate or accidental, and how should the
U.S. prepare for and deal with these prospects?

⁶⁸ R. Evan Ellis, “The Military-Strategic Dimensions of Chinese Initiatives in Latin
America,” China-Latin America Task Force, Center for Hemispheric Policy, University of
Miami, February 16, 2007.

^!What policies should the United States adopt to prepare for
increasingly robust U.S.-China competition for energy resources,
international commodities, and space exploration?
^!What will it mean for the United States should Taiwan lose its
remaining diplomatic relationships around the world? Should the
United States seek to play a more active role in seeking to improve
Taiwan’s international position — perhaps by reassessing current
U.S. policy toward Taiwan in light of China’s rise?
^!How should the United States respond, if at all, to any global
perceptions of U.S. disengagement around the world?
Options
Should U.S. policymakers decide that the status quo is sufficient protection for
U.S. interests, then little if any action is needed. The status quo presumes that U.S.
soft power, complex and multi-faceted as it is, will be dominant globally far into the
future and sufficiently resilient to weather temporary ups and downs; that the
capacity for PRC global soft power will remain limited, both by Beijing’s own policy
predilections and by other countries’ self-interests; and that the PRC will remain too
pre-occupied with resolving its own significant domestic economic inequities,
infrastructure problems, political transformation pressures, and social instabilities to
focus significant effort on its global presence.
Should U.S. policymakers decide that the PRC’s invigorated activities around
the world require a U.S. response to offset or better compete with China, there are
innumerable policy options that might be considered, in both the “hardline” and
“stakeholder” categories. Each of these possibilities involves policy trade-offs.
These, discussed in more complete detail throughout this report, are briefly
summarized below. They include:
Reinvigorate U.S. Global Engagement. The United States could seek to
counter China’s global activities by reinvigorating U.S. engagement around the
world, including the expansion of U.S. public diplomacy.
^!In Asia, this could include more active participation in building the
emerging economic and political/security architectures of the region.
This could include seeking observer status or outright membership
in the SCO and the EAS, and more active participation in the
ASEAN Regional Forum. The United States also could make
concrete policy proposals to reinvigorate the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation Forum (APEC) as a vehicle for U.S. soft power
influence in Asia.
^!In Africa, it could include increased and more efficient U.S. bilateral
cooperation, trade, and military relations, including the prospect of
directly involving the PRC and African governments in bilateral and
multilateral dialogue with the aim of defining goals, issues, and
agendas of mutual interest. U.S. policymakers could urge China and

African countries to create an observational status within the Forum
on China-Africa Cooperation, enabling the United States and other
countries to learn about the policy priorities of these groups and to
participate in consultations on time-sensitive, urgent challenges in
these regions, including armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, and
security threats to Chinese and U.S. businesses.
^!The United States also could emphasize a more visible U.S. role in
solving global problems, including health care to address HIV/AIDS,
malaria and other diseases; providing drugs and building clinics;
promoting alternative energy sources; improving agricultural
development capacities and providing increased education and
human resource training. It could adopt a more vigorous role in
addressing other global issues such as climate change and the
promotion of energy conservation measures.
^!Washington could seek to enhance cooperation among Russia,
China, the EU, and other outside powers to assist fragile states to
develop their independence and security.
Encourage Greater Transparency and Good Governance in China.
The United States could strengthen its programs to encourage development of rule-
of-law and other boons to governance in China. This could include:
^!Urging China to support an equitable, rule-based global legal and
business environment and help to develop the rule of law in the
regions in which the PRC is investing by signing on to
public-private sector good governance initiative and agreements.
^!Encouraging China to join in multilateral and country-level donor
foreign assistance dialogues and related efforts to prioritize key
development goals and coordinate aid efforts in order to create
synergies, avoid duplication, and maximize each donor’s strengths.
^!Offering to work collaboratively with China to help it to design,
coordinate, and increase the efficiency of its nascent institutional
foreign aid structure, including more clearly differentiating its
official grant-based aid from its subsidization of trade and commerce
credit; monitoring the effectiveness of its aid strategies; harmonizing
aid reporting with other donor governments; and developing best
practices in support of transparency and accountability.
^!Make greater use of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue
(SED) as a vehicle for addressing broader bilateral and multilateral
issues.
Leverage U.S. Strengths over China. In the absence of sufficient
transparency in China’s international efforts, the United States could seek to improve
its own knowledge base and do a more competitive job of pursuing its foreign
interests. This could include:

^!Maintaining and publicizing a more accurate calculus of actual PRC
assistance and investment that is delivered, as opposed to that which
is merely announced.
^!Working harder to ensure that U.S. democratization and human
rights values are viewed not as encumbrances and prohibitions, but
instead as measures that ultimately will improve their economic
progress.
^!Re-thinking the current U.S. “gold standard” in regional and bilateral
Free Trade Agreements, especially when such a standard requires
substantial changes in domestic laws.
^!Working to achieve greater efficiency and to cut red tape in U.S. and
multilateral institution assistance and investment in developing
countries.
^!Seeking to counter PRC efforts to isolate Taiwan by conditioning
U.S. assistance and economic interaction with other countries on
Taiwan’s greater international participation.
^!Leveraging U.S. innovation in communications, engineering, and
other fields to more actively — and visibly — aid the developing
world.