China's Influence

Abstract

One of the biggest questions in global affairs is how a rising China will shape the world beyond its borders. What kind of influence will China seek, how will it seek it, and to what ends? Tese questions were central to the deliberations of the recent 19th Party Congress. China’s influence is a hot-button issue in Australia following a string of media allegations about links between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and members of the Chinese diaspora who have mobilised to defend or advance Beijing’s agenda abroad. Te media coverage raises alarms about Beijing’s intentions at a time when China’s power is growing. State President and CCP Secretary-General Xi Jinping’s signature policy platform is the ‘China Dream’ (中国梦), centred on ‘the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’ (中华民族大复兴). Yet the commitments to multilateral institutions and a ‘shared community’ in Xi’s Party Congress report seek to reassure the world about what China’s ambitions mean for it. In this EAFQ we examine China’s influence from several perspectives. On a global scale, we address China’s engagement with the liberal international order and multilateral institutions (Andrew Nathan, Zhong Feiteng). We consider China’s efforts to establish itself as the dominant power in East Asia (Richard McGregor), the importance of the Belt and Road Initiative in expanding Chinese influence (David Lampton, Evelyn Goh and James Reilly), state-owned enterprises (Brodsgaard), regional anxieties about China’s influence (Chitrapu Uday Bhaskar) and Southeast Asian responses to Chinese power (Renato Cruz De Castro). Chinese influence in Australia is a frontline issue, including in politics (Alan Gyngell, Peter Drysdale and John Denton), on university campuses (Brian Schmidt), in the media (Wanning Sun) and in the Chinese-Australian community (Ien Ang). Taken together, the discussion of Chinese influence in Australia urges greater sophistication in conceptualising the problem and greater maturity in formulating responses. Tese issues will resonate wherever governments and communities are confronting the opportunities and challenges of China’s rise and its exercise of power. Asian Review examines grand strategy in Asia (Calder), Southeast Asian political trends (Slater), Duterte and China (Cruz de Castro) and Asia’s global trade strategy (Basri). Show more