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Naval power no threat
By Ren Ke |
September 28, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
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CHINA'S naval power advanced on Tuesday as its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning with hull No. 16, began its service in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy.
This move should not be viewed as a new threat. China is accelerating its process to integrate with the world and the country shares ideas and rules with the international community. China's increasing power will serve as a positive factor in the established order.
In correspondence with its economic development, China's national defense power has strengthened in recent years, giving rise to doubt about whether the country will threaten its neighbors or challenge the global system.
However, there is another question that must be answered first: why were British or French aircraft carriers not viewed as threats, while the Soviet Union's intermediate range missiles to be deployed in Cuba struck the US' most sensitive nerve and created a crisis?
International relations have long been dominated by realist thinking, which stipulates that in an anarchic international system, sovereign states have to defend themselves by preparing for conflicts through economic and military build-up.
This has led to a security dilemma whereby increasing one's security may bring along greater instability in the event of an arms race.
Realism only explained the situation between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War period.
However, France and Britain pose no threat to the US, as in the constructivist theory, identities and interests are not objectively grounded in material forces but the result of ideas and the social interaction of such ideas.
Despite some ideological differences with the West, China has increasingly integrated in the international system by accepting its rules and practices rather than trying to build a new one, and is now interacting positively for the world's peace and stability.
In major global and regional issues like the Six-Party Talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear program and the Iran nuclear issue, the country has pursued peaceful solutions through dialogue.
From late Chairman Mao Zedong to President Hu Jintao, Chinese leaders have reiterated the promise that the country will never seek hegemony as it gains power.
In addition, the country does not force other countries to accept its ideologies. But of course, China, like most developing countries, would appreciate a more fair and reasonable international order.
China's increased military strength does contribute to the world.
So far, the country has sent more than 21,000 peacekeeping forces on 30 United Nations peacekeeping missions around the world. Since December 2008, the Chinese navy has dispatched 12 fleets to the waters of the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters to escort more than 4,700 Chinese and foreign ships, protecting them from pirates.
In the meantime, the shared global outlook can break the cycle of rising powers waging wars against the established international order.
Historical lessons
History repeats itself, but with exceptions. Rising powers and established ones have waged wars against each other in the past.
In the last century, rising powers like Germany, Japan and Russia all waged wars against the established powers and all were defeated in the end.
But one exception occurred between Britain and the rising US around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Political scientists believe that one of the reasons no war was waged was that the US accepted the rules and norms that Britain built rather than trying to overthrow them. That China shares ideas with the established international order means that the country and the mainstream world share common interests, so an aircraft carrier taking service should not be viewed as a threat to the regional and world orders.
The author is a Xinhua writer.
This move should not be viewed as a new threat. China is accelerating its process to integrate with the world and the country shares ideas and rules with the international community. China's increasing power will serve as a positive factor in the established order.
In correspondence with its economic development, China's national defense power has strengthened in recent years, giving rise to doubt about whether the country will threaten its neighbors or challenge the global system.
However, there is another question that must be answered first: why were British or French aircraft carriers not viewed as threats, while the Soviet Union's intermediate range missiles to be deployed in Cuba struck the US' most sensitive nerve and created a crisis?
International relations have long been dominated by realist thinking, which stipulates that in an anarchic international system, sovereign states have to defend themselves by preparing for conflicts through economic and military build-up.
This has led to a security dilemma whereby increasing one's security may bring along greater instability in the event of an arms race.
Realism only explained the situation between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War period.
However, France and Britain pose no threat to the US, as in the constructivist theory, identities and interests are not objectively grounded in material forces but the result of ideas and the social interaction of such ideas.
Despite some ideological differences with the West, China has increasingly integrated in the international system by accepting its rules and practices rather than trying to build a new one, and is now interacting positively for the world's peace and stability.
In major global and regional issues like the Six-Party Talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear program and the Iran nuclear issue, the country has pursued peaceful solutions through dialogue.
From late Chairman Mao Zedong to President Hu Jintao, Chinese leaders have reiterated the promise that the country will never seek hegemony as it gains power.
In addition, the country does not force other countries to accept its ideologies. But of course, China, like most developing countries, would appreciate a more fair and reasonable international order.
China's increased military strength does contribute to the world.
So far, the country has sent more than 21,000 peacekeeping forces on 30 United Nations peacekeeping missions around the world. Since December 2008, the Chinese navy has dispatched 12 fleets to the waters of the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters to escort more than 4,700 Chinese and foreign ships, protecting them from pirates.
In the meantime, the shared global outlook can break the cycle of rising powers waging wars against the established international order.
Historical lessons
History repeats itself, but with exceptions. Rising powers and established ones have waged wars against each other in the past.
In the last century, rising powers like Germany, Japan and Russia all waged wars against the established powers and all were defeated in the end.
But one exception occurred between Britain and the rising US around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Political scientists believe that one of the reasons no war was waged was that the US accepted the rules and norms that Britain built rather than trying to overthrow them. That China shares ideas with the established international order means that the country and the mainstream world share common interests, so an aircraft carrier taking service should not be viewed as a threat to the regional and world orders.
The author is a Xinhua writer.
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