China adopts new strategic diplomacy

By Rizal Sukma

JAKARTA (JP); Less than two weeks after returning from a successful summit with President Bill Clinton in Washington, China's President Jiang Zemin recently received Russia's President Boris Yeltsin in Beijing for another summit.

Despite the fact that it was the fifth high level meeting between the two sides, the recently held summit was marked by a number of substantive agreements.

The two leaders, for example, signed an agreement which ended centuries of disputes over the demarcation of eastern borders which go back to the 17th century. In addition to an agreement on technical and scientific cooperation, they also signed a framework agreement to build a 3,000 kilometer gas pipeline from Siberia to north-eastern China.

More importantly, both leaders affirmed their earlier commitment to work towards a "strategic partnership" between China and Russia. In a joint declaration issued after the summit, they also emphasized the need to create a "multipolar" world in which no single power should dominate.

Though unstated, it is clear that China and Russia intend to send a clear message that they would not want to see the post- Cold War era to be dominated by a single superpower, meaning the United States. Indeed, this latest Sino-Russian summit can be seen as part of the two countries' efforts to look beyond relations with the U.S. (Straits Times, Nov. 11, 1997).

At a global level, the Jiang-Yeltsin and Jiang-Clinton summits clearly indicate a continuing trend among major powers (China, the U.S. and Russia) to forge better and more fruitful relations in the post-Cold War era. They also indicate further the waning of ideological concerns in interstate relations.

For China, however, the strategic importance of those summits goes beyond the rhetoric of great powers' interests in "maintaining world peace" in a multipolar structure of international politics. They serve as a strong indication that China is indeed striving for a pivotal role in the making of such a multipolar world.

Indeed, due to its sheer size, abundant resources, and long history as a great power, China has always been keen to claim its rightful position as a major power in world politics. During the Cold War era, that aspiration was thwarted by ideological rivalries with both Washington and Moscow.

Even though China later on found itself in a position to play a strategic role within the Washington-Beijing-Moscow triangular relationship, that role was only made possible by the growing tensions and rivalry between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union.

In other words, the relative importance of China as a major power during this period was dictated more by the Cold War interests of superpowers rather than by genuine recognition from either the U.S. and the former Soviet Union.

Even though China managed to exploit its pivotal position in the Washington-Beijing-Moscow triangular relationship for national security interests, there was also another constraint which impeded Beijing's attempts to assume a position as an "equal among the three".

The U.S., which tended to frame its relations with China in terms of global rivalry with the former Soviet Union, was too cautious in broadening the scope of Washington-Beijing cooperation. A number of problems put a break to closer Beijing- Washington relations.

After the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, China found itself in a better position to elevate its strategic importance in world affairs. It moved quickly to restore relations with Moscow.

For Moscow itself, despite remarkable improvements in its relations with Washington and the West in general, a closer relation with Beijing is essential in order to restore its diminishing international standing in the post-Cold War balance of power politics among great powers. Moreover, the new-found good relations with the U.S. have not always been easy for Russia.

For China, its aspiration to be a truly major power will never become a reality without stable relations with the U.S. In this regard, Washington's approach towards China, while it was influenced by growing concerns in Washington over Beijing's human rights record, tended to be event-driven.

In this context, the recent triumphant Sino-U.S. summit, which also resulted in an agreement between the two countries to work towards a "strategic partnership," signifies the acknowledgement by the U.S. of the strategic importance of China as a major power.

Indeed, by immediately having another summit with Russia afterward, China clearly demonstrates its growing stature and role in global politics. Through such strategic diplomacy, China once again plays a central role in the making of a new triangular relationship between Washington, Beijing and Moscow. Unlike during the Cold War, however, that relationship is now characterized by a more positive trend towards a "triangular strategic partnership" based on cooperation rather than rivalry.

With regard to its implications for the Asia-Pacific region, it is hoped that such a new "triangular strategic partnership" will contribute greatly to the ongoing multilateral efforts to establish a more predictable and stable regional order in the region.

It is also hoped that such a growing mood for cooperation will result in stable and durable relations among the three major powers.

In the past, the Asia-Pacific region, especially the Southeast Asian sub-region, has experienced many devastating effects resulting from rivalries among the three. If the three countries can maintain the current mood for cooperation, there are grounds for optimism that the 21st century will be a "Pacific Century."

The writer is a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta.