Charm diplomacy bears fruit

An old Chinese saying goes that the whole year's work depends on a good start in spring, and that is what China has been trying to do with its latest charm diplomacy: President Hu Jintao's recently concluded visits to three Asian countries are becoming increasingly geopolitically important, namely the Republic of Korea, India and Cambodia.

Beijing has been demonstrating its determination to contribute more to international and regional mechanisms at recent summits.

President Hu delivered a keynote speech at the second Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, elaborating China's position and the efforts it has made in the field of nuclear security and raising proposals for all participating countries to work together to realize the goal of universal nuclear security. He also met with US President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and exchanged views on regional and international affairs of common concern.

During the fourth BRICS summit in New Delhi, Hu also clarified China's stance on various issues including global governance and sustainable development, put a premium on BRICS countries maintaining world peace and promoting common development and raised proposals for the development of BRICS.

President Hu's visits to India and Cambodia have proved to be particularly fruitful.

Undoubtedly, China and India share common interests in a variety of areas and despite their border dispute, the two countries can reach consensus and make concerted efforts to tackle key international and regional issues, such as the global financial crisis and climate change. The two countries have been maintaining close contact on various multinational occasions including the trilateral meeting between China, India and Russia, and the BRICS summit.

In fact, several bilateral cooperation frameworks and platforms have been set up since 2005. For instance, China and India reached an agreement to build a strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India in 2005, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid an official visit to China in 2008 and the two countries signed a joint document outlining their shared vision for strengthening bilateral ties in the 21st century.

Yet despite this, China and India have remained suspicious of each other. Some Indian politicians and scholars accuse China of creating the so-called string of pearls to gain a foothold around the Indian Ocean and thus threaten India. The string-of-pearls theory has become so popular in India that the Indian government even banned telecom operators from buying equipment manufactured by Chinese companies in 2010, citing security reasons. In recent years India has also upset China by enhancing its strategic security cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, while the border dispute and the "Tibetan government in exile" have been major obstacles in the way of better Sino-Indian ties.

President Hu's latest visit to India was a gesture of goodwill and in return, Singh said India has no intention and will not take part in any schemes to contain China. He also said India recognizes the Tibet autonomous region as part of China and will not allow Tibetan separatists to conduct anti-China activities in India and that India hopes to work with China to defend peace along the borders and settle the bilateral dispute through friendly negotiation.

During his visit to Cambodia, President Hu exchanged opinions with Cambodian leaders about how to deepen cooperation in international and regional issues, and the two sides signed a joint statement and agreed to increase exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of fields including culture, education and public health. They also agreed that China and ASEAN members should continue to abide by the purpose and spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and implement it by giving full play to all existing mechanisms.

China's diplomacy is undergoing some changes in both theory and practice, and its recent charm diplomacy indicates that China is aware of the changing global balance of power. Although the United States' status as the world's sole superpower remains unshakable, emerging powers are now playing an ever-important role on the global stage. The Republic of Korea has an irreplaceable role in nuclear non-proliferation and maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula. India serves as a party of consequence defending stability in South Asia, and Cambodia on the Indo-China Peninsula. It is China's earnest hope to work with these countries to build a sound security environment.

Nonetheless, such progress can be easily disrupted. India's Defence Research and Development Organization, which is responsible for the development of technology for use by the military, recently claimed that India is making the final preparations for the first test of the country's most ambitious strategic missile Agni-V, which will bring the whole of China under its strike envelope. Such things should serve as constant reminders that charm diplomacy is probably not enough to ease and finally eliminate all suspicions and China should be ready to confront more complicated security challenges in the future.

The author is a scholar on Asia-Pacific studies at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(China Daily 04/09/2012 page9)