Thriving neighborhood vital for peaceful rise

China's neighborhood appeared to be generally stable last year, although some regional security problems continued posing a threat. The strategic containment policies by major powers such as the United States, and pressing issues like territorial disputes, separatism and terrorism, comprised most of the destabilizing factors for China.

Delivering an important speech at a conference on diplomatic work in Beijing in October, President Xi Jinping vowed to accord priority to neighborhood diplomacy as part of China's overall diplomacy. The conference, presided over by Li Keqiang, the Premier, stressed the significance of establishing a neighborhood community of shared destiny.

By proposing the "One Belt and One Road" initiatives, helping establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and setting up the Silk Road Fund, China honored its commitments to the economic betterment of its Asian neighbors.

China's commitments to peripheral diplomacy were a response not only to the complicated and volatile environment it faces, but also to address its growing strength and thus the need for protecting its national security.

In retrospect, China's diplomatic efforts were marked by two major changes last year.

To begin with, it played a more active part in multinational cooperation in regional security, especially in "setting the agenda". In his keynote address to the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia in Shanghai in May, Xi proposed a new Asian security cooperation framework, featuring a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security strategy. His appeal for "Asians to be responsible for Asian affairs" was echoed by leaders of many countries attending the conference.

Second, military exchanges and security-oriented cooperation between China and some other major powers, including the US, Russia and India, added weight to their fight against both traditional and non-traditional security threats. In fact, Beijing and Washington reached a number of agreements on issues such as cybersecurity, food safety and fighting pirates.

China-Russia cooperation and China-India coordination reflected similar efforts, with the former focusing on satellite navigation and energy exchanges, and latter resulting in India-China anti-terrorism joint training exercise in Pune, India, in November.

The year 2015 has highlighted three tendencies in China's efforts to strengthen neighborhood security. The first is the likelihood of continuing improvement of relations between China and its major neighbors. With its robust economic recovery, the US is back as a major driver of the world economy, with China being the other. This will partly correct the structural imbalance in Beijing-Washington ties, which occurred because of China's powerful rise and the US' declining economic strength over the past few years.

Both countries now more clearly understand the importance of managing and controlling disparities and defusing regional tensions, because Washington's "pivot to Asia" policy, especially its military nature, has given rise to conflicts in the region. Also, China-US cooperation to deal with non-traditional security threats is expected to deepen, although deep-rooted disagreements on issues such as the sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands and territorial disputes in the South China Sea could remain.

Second, issues relating to territorial clashes in the East China Sea and South China Sea are likely to be subdued despite the possible provocations by countries like the Philippines. But if Manila's invalid appeal for "arbitration" in the South China Sea dispute, which it filed in 2013, is taken up by an international tribunal this year, it will deal a blow to China - Philippines ties.

And third, non-traditional security problems, including terrorism - the biggest threat to regional stability - and cyberattacks, still need to be tackled with urgency. To do so, China should seek the help of multinational cooperative mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

A stable, peaceful and prosperous neighborhood is more important than ever for China, because it's on the way to consolidating its status as a global power. To achieve that, China has to make more concrete efforts to implement its "One Belt and One Road" initiatives and push for a regional community with shared destiny.

The article is an excerpt from an assessment report of the National Institute of International Strategy, affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.