Human Rights and Soft Power in China's Foreign Policy

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Human Rights and Soft Power in China’s Foreign Policy

Over the past years, China has avoided international relations and it has opted to do things its own way. It was and still is widely regarded as a communist country. It considered peace and independence when it opened up to the rest of the world and it was designing its foreign policy. China’s foreign policy considers international peace and stability, national interests and common interests of the people. The country has taken the time to develop its economy and it is now one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The nation is now integrating with other nations and choosing to invest in the least developed countries.

Soft power is defined as the ability to shape the preference of others, in order to get what one wants through attraction rather than coercion or payments. This definition has been broadened and in addition to attraction, others have added international trade policies and practices, cultural influences, overseas investments, diplomatic initiatives, development assistance, humanitarian aid, disaster relief, education, travel and tourism. This is opposed to hard power, which means the ability to use military and economic means to coerce or induce another nation to carry out policy or course of action (McGiffert 10).

China exercises its soft power by appealing to states through dollar diplomacy and winning friends through non-interference. The country has improved its relations with many countries around the world but research suggests that the sift power of the United States of America still exceeds China (McGiffert 8). China has invested billions of dollars in overseas investments. This has been influenced by its need to acquire stable and sustainable sources of energy, new markets and raw materials. It has increased its development projects especially in Africa and Latin America and has chosen to collaborate financially with countries that are shunned by the European nations and United States of America.

Western countries are known to impose strict measures when they are lending or offering grants to developing nations and this has greatly hindered developments and trade in these nations. They require good governance, human right conditions, approved project restrictions and environmental quality regulations. The only requirement imposed by China is that the receiving nations recognize that Taiwan is part of China (McGiffert 3). This has been noticed by China and it has chosen to improve its foreign policies on lending by not conforming to western standards and thus improving its international relations in these nations. China also seeks to improve its relations with its neighbors in South East Asia and even in the Middle East. It has promoted regional economic integration, participated in humanitarian efforts, increased cultural programs, enhanced academic exchange programs, provided concessionary loans and debt relief and security mechanisms (McGiffert 2).

China’s interest in Africa is influenced by the need to find raw materials and energy. It has initiated various development projects by developing infrastructure, provided medical aid, assisted financially and given food aid. China has also developed good relations with Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and other Latin American countries. In exchange for infrastructure development, research and development in aerospace, computers, automotive and biotech industries, China hopes to find raw commodities such as iron, copper, steel and even soybeans (McGiffert 6). Its relations with the Middle East have been influenced by the need to find energy, which it needs to sustain its economic growth.

Many countries shy away from investing in the Middle East because of the constant wars, which in turn lead to political instability. However, China realizes the importance of maintaining good relations with these countries because this is where it gets most of its energy sources. The Middle Eastern countries are attracted to China’s policy of sovereignty and no strings attached policy when giving aid and grants. China also exercises its soft power in the region by supporting peace efforts in Southeast and Central Asia. It has assisted in creating organizations for economic and security cooperation. These organizations include the East Asian summit, the Asian development bank, the shanghai cooperation organization, and ASEAN. It is also involved in development projects and it has built roads, bridges, pipelines, and power generating facilities (McGiffert 7).

Not everyone is in support of China’s soft power. The developed countries are especially worried because they are not sure what will happen to the United States. Many countries that support China’s soft power are in Africa. The study of China as a soft power is important. It is interesting to see how countries that are considered super powers in the world sense are scared and shaken that China can over take them in determining their worldly position. China, which was once considered a communist nation, isolated from the rest of the world, has changed its position and is now a country to be recognized. It has used what would be considered unfair tactics to penetrate the developing world. Developed countries took advantage of their power to enact bureaucratic procedures before issuing any form of assistance and this led to their slow rate of development. China has done away with these bureaucracies and has found new ways to provide assistance. In so doing, it has also found a way to provide jobs for its citizens who work in these countries and this has helped to build its economy.

Western countries do not think that China is doing enough to improve its human relations and this has overshadowed the country’s economic growth. However, Beijing has succeeded in marginalizing human rights dispute in some of the western countries. The people are more concerned with improving their economy and maintaining political stability than they are in protesting about human rights and this has added to the frustrations of the countries, which think that the nation is not where it should be as far as human rights are concerned. The society might not be ready or willing to push for democracy because they are content with the country’s economic performance. Since a large part of the society is content with the government’s performance, they see human rights as more of a western concern and those who are nonconformist attract little sympathy (Wan 16). This peace is not secure because there is a significant portion of the population that has not yet benefited from China’s economic gain (Wan 9).

Human rights have become a fundamental issue in international relations. The Chinese Communist Party has no intentions of bowing to foreign rights pressure because they undermine its political legitimacy and control (Wan 3). China’s human rights policy determines its political stability together with its foreign policy and is used as a cover for power concerns (Wan 13). Western countries have put a lot of pressure on the Chinese government to improve its human rights according to their standards. These countries perceive the Chinese government to be repressive and they see this as a major hindrance to its development (Wan 16). The West usually mentions issues such as China’s criminal justice system, its family planning program, its religious policy, the status of Chinese women and children and its policy regarding Tibet, Taiwan and other minorities (Wan 17).

The only way that the western countries can get support from a large portion of the Chinese population is if they consider the people’s interest rather than trying to oppose the government. The government urges the nation to propel the modernization drive, achieve national unification, safeguard world peace and promote common development. “Common development justifies cooperation with the developed nations and the borrowing of any civilization creations from the West, including political and cultural institutions and ideas” (Deng and Wang 293). Writing about China’s human rights position is not only important but it also reveals the other side of the story. More often than not writers, critics and politicians only consider one point of view. They report on the negative aspects of the Chinese government such as its violations of human rights without considering whether there is a second aspect to their stories. While there are many cases to be considered, writers and critics should also be objective.

Interests in Chinese human rights became rife in the eighties and this was after China had made considerable improvements. Western critics did not consider how far the country had come in improving conditions in the country and the same case is happening today (Deng and Wang 282). Human rights abuse cases are not as many or as severe as they were ten years ago but this has gone unnoticed. This makes one wonder the true intent that the western countries have on pressurizing China. The pressure is especially intense now that China is fast becoming a world power and it has managed to influence many developing countries.

Research on this issue was motivated by the news reports that have always been there concerning China’s human rights issue. Because this is a short term paper and there are time constraints, one cannot fully exhaust the topic. This research, if fully exhausted can be used by people who are interested in investing in China, those interested in Chinese foreign policy and other like-minded people. One can understand how China has managed to improve its relations with the other countries especially when this was not the case a while back. One can also understand why many developed countries are cautious of its steady development.

Works Cited

Deng, Yong and Wang, Fei-Ling.China Rising: Power and Motivation in Chinese Foreign Policy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Print.

McGiffert, Carola. Chinese Soft Power and its Implications for the United States: Competition and Cooperation in the Developing World: A Report of the CSIS Smart Power Initiative. Washington, D. C.: CSIS, 2009. Print.

Wan, Ming. Human Rights in Chinese Foreign Relations: Defining and Defending National Interests. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001. Print.