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By Mr.Y

A global regime consisting of global organizations and institutions led by responsible sovereign states should be set in place to solve transnational economic, political, and social issues. A Plan for Action: A New Era of International Cooperation for a Changed World: 2009, 2010, and Beyond by Bruce Jones, Carlos Pascual, and Stephen John Stedman states that world’s leading nations should get behind the idea of reforming global governance around the concept of responsible sovereignty in an attempt to effectively solve regional and global disputes. The nation case study of this paper is China who already is on the track of creating a responsible sovereignty and has shown an interest in the establishment of common affiliations with its peer nation states.

Global Governance is a transnational system of policies and treaties which are formed by various global organizations, these organizations consist of International Organizations some of which have no governmental representation at all, these are called (Non-Governmental Organizations), like Doctor’s Without Borders or Amnesty International. The other type of international organization is called an intergovernmental organization such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) which was developed to bring to justice individuals that commit atrocities, acts of war, and crimes against humanity (Rome Statute). These organizations are more focused on the creation of international ties between the member states’ governments. Various types of organizations focus on different goals, goals such as economical unity, like the World Trade Organization, which creates liberal trade standards and offers a round-table for governments to negotiate trade agreements (Understanding the WTO). World Bank is a financially support group; helping poor countries with financial issues and moving globalization to areas of the globe where it’s still slowly coming or nonexistent (About Us). World Health Organization, working directly with United Nations, is responsible for setting health standard policies and offering technical support and medical assistance to regions that need it (WHO).

Even though the specific goal of each group is different the general objective is the same, and that’s to set norms. Through international policies these groups tie nation states together under certain agreed upon rules. Most of these standards are based upon liberal democratic and western ideals. The Geneva Conventions are one such example of standards. Generally accepted and followed by most western society, the convention states that prisoners and enemies be treated humanely and without discrimination, in other words with a mutual respect (Geneva Convention). Just as there are standards for treatment of prisoners there are also agreements between nations to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. The treaty for nuclear proliferation has participating nations declare that they will not support or commit to any attempt to create or strengthen the nation’s nuclear arsenal and in long run deter the existing arsenal (NPT). The International Health Organization helps control and monitor possible health threats such as the avian flu with its international framework of public health regulations (WHO).

The job, according to A Plan for Action: A New Era of International Cooperation for a Changed World: 2009, 2010, and Beyond, of powerful, influential, westernized and industrialized nation states, like china, is to take responsibility and help establish these so called norms and standards in their own domain for the sake of the global regime. At the same time help contribute to the over international system by being cooperative. In the long run this will hopefully create a multilateral structure where all nations’ interests are represented and accounted for.

China’s present government initial came to life in 1949, after China’s civil war, in which the communist party won control over mainland china. The Republic of China or ROC was founded and ruled by the Kuomintang, or china’s nationalist party (Appendix). After the war they were forced out of the mainland and took occupation in Taiwan. After World War II China (more specifically ROC) received a seat in the newly found United Nation’s Security Council. But after the fall of the ROC the PRC took control of that position.

China’s government is one of the last five communist governments in the globe (Cienciala), although today it doesn’t harbor the traditional Maoist style communism. Even though the communist party dominates the political arena they don’t necessarily do it through force. At the local level the government structure is in fact quite democratic, with elections (Bejingers). One could argue that the communist party’s long occupation is similar to the domination that republicans and democrats display in the United States. Over the recent decades the People’s Republic of China has presented numerous disputes concerning political and social issues.

A prime example of social unrest is Tiananmen Square in which students protested the communist party in support of a pro-market and democratic reform that initially was started by Xiaoping (Tiananmen). In 1989 after the death of Xiaoping there were essentially two groups, one felt that the reform, which had ended Maoism, didn’t go far enough and another that felt it had gone too far. (Tiananmen).

China today does not have a communism in the sense that many may think it does. Today, it most definitely doesn’t have traditional Maoist style governance. After the failure of the great Leap Forward – an attempt to ramp up the economy through an increased and stimulated labor force (this resulted in a great famine and further economic decline) – the economy was revised to allow private property but the property was constrained with heavy regulations. (Harms).

Communism leads to dictatorial regimes, and that has been one of the major concerns about china, the sometimes seemingly “oppressive” nature of the government. The constitution of the PRC does allow for all the fundamental human rights, such as freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, procession and demonstration as well as freedom of religion, right to a trail by peers, and freedom of privacy (Constitution). At times though the government seems go against these principles. China’s press and the people’s communicative abilities are often restricted. Professional journalists as well as the everyday bloggers have the possibility of being punished for their critique of the political system. Because of that the writer always has to be careful of the content he or she puts in to their work and who they send it too. In 2008 there were at least 26 Chinese journalists who were confined and arrested by the government because of what they wrote or posted. The charges for their crimes include “revealing state secrets” and “inciting subversion”, which was the case with Lü Gengsong who was sentenced to four years (China). Today, china bears a large amount of influence on global issues spanning from global climate change, to the economy. At the same time contains political differences and some might say irregularities from its western counterparts which makes for a conflicting situations.

In today’s modern world the security of one nation transcends its own sovereignty and falls on the responsibility of other nations. Issues such as global warming, economic recession, nuclear proliferation, and terrorism can’t be dealt with by one nation. The reason why is because these issues are global ones. If today’s societies want to deal with them they have to do it with a mutual cooperation. This is the main idea behind the responsible sovereignty talked about in A Plan for Action. The report underscored the importance of revitalizing international institutions in the hope of improving the effectiveness of the global order. “The leadership mandates of key international institutions – from the G8 to the UN Security Council – have not kept pace with the new power holders and dynamic threats of a changed world.” The report directly states. This is especially true for china which shares the belief that it’s being “excluded from the decision making process”. Since the fall of the ROC there have been many disputes between the west and China. Communism and the autocratic domination it entails go against the standard western ideals. China’s current position on global governance is that the international system of organizations and norms is highly biased, centered and based on western beliefs and ideas (Chan). Thus China believes that the overall concept is unequal and undemocratic. China’s notion is that due to uneven global wealth distribution there exists a gap between rich nations and poor nations. This gap breeds a sense of elitism among the richer nations who in due time begin to impose their ideals on the poor nations. The poor and weak nations have no voice in the international order (Chan). China noticeably still shares an affiliation with 3rd world nations even though it’s economic and social situation is improving. China still harbors the feeling of being looked down on by the west after decades of disapprovals by America. China like any other nation wants its national interests to be secured (Chan). The report rightfully proposes to create a new G16 that will offer a new table for discussion among the existing G8 and the new Outreach 5 (including china). As well it proposes to end the unilateralism of International organizations, specifically the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, both of which China is part of.

China is a great example of the economic success that globalization can offer a nation. 500 million people have been raised out of poverty in just thirty years after china started participating in the global market (Jones 10). Institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the World Trade Organization have helped contribute to economic growth. China’s integration into an international system like the WTO isn’t just crucial to itself but the rest of the world alike. WTO Director- General, Renato Ruggiero, in a speech given in 1997, said that in china “output has been expanding by an average of 10% a year, while merchandise export volume has been growing even faster, at about 15%.” At that point in time China was the fifth largest trading power. As China’s ties into the global economy become more complicated it becomes necessary for the nation to adapt to a common system. The WTO provides china a round table for discussing its own as well as other nations’ trade policies. In the case that china’s rights are impeded it has a way to step forward and express its opinion. The world benefits from china’s participation in the WTO because it helps establish a more multilateral and universal systems in which all opinions are accounted for not just the western ones, and obviously in turn china benefits as well (Ruggiero). This “international financial system”, which incorporates the IMF and World Bank, according to the report, will help prevent financial collapse within nation states that have large capital balances and no past experience in managing a financial crisis. This definitely applies to china which many experts fear might have an economic collapse in the future. China’s gap between rich and poor invigorates the rural population (Lewis). The value of the Chinese Yuen purposely has been kept low to boost manufacturing exports, since the workers get paid with Yuen. If china would ever have to appease the poor they would have to raise the value of the Yuen by selling off the dollar, to avoid an internal social crisis. If the value of the Yuen were to rise the result is predicted to end up bad for everyone. Other currency would deprecate in value, like the dollar and euro, and countries would regress from importing things from china (Lewis). The IMF would help control exchange rate policies so a crisis like this doesn’t happen.

Another objective the report declares must be pursued by nations is the strengthening of regional organizations that monitor and sustain regional security. China has taken leadership in the cause and is an important member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which had formed out of the Shanghai Five. This group consists of china and five other Eurasian nations, Russia being the most prominent. The goal of the organization is the formation of mutual trust, disarmament, and cooperative security (Shanghai). In the area of security the organization has set up the Shanghai Convention against Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism. The treaty agrees on the creation of an anti-terror group in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and the formation of three joint anti-terror exercises. These joint military exercises help create standard anti-terrorism tactics which are then taught to the participating nations’ military (Sui). The benefit of having joint forces is the ability to implement military support for any sort of crisis that might occur in the region and solve it cooperatively meanwhile having some level of efficiency. The SCO isn’t to be confused with a military alliance even though it supports the idea of conjoining forces. The SCO extends further into the economic field with its attempts to establish a communication and transportation network among the Eurasian countries which will hopefully form an economically active zone (Sui). Economically prosperous geographic areas often have better social conditions, eliminating dangerous radical and extremist groups. Another organization that China isn’t directly a member of but is a participating observer of is the ASEAN. The Association of South Eastern Asian Nations was developed in 1967, a group meant to link southeastern Asian nations towards a common goal of economic prosperity and political stability (Overview). ASEAN plus three observers (China, South Korea, and Japan) have gone further and formed the East Asian summit (EAS), a forum for the discussion of regional politics and economic matters. The report makes the claim that regional security is vital to global security. A Plan for Action suggests that regional organizations such as ASEAN and SCO can serve as “first responders” to any crisis; environmental, social, or military, that might occur within the region. Also important to consider is that it’s much easier to build standards at a local level then at a global level because nations have “proximity in both physical and political terms”. Health issues such as SARS and bird flu (diseases that are more common in Asia) have a primary effect in the region where they originate. It would be in the best interest of Asian states to work cooperatively in controlling a possible outbreak. Concerning health threats, the report mentions International Health Regulations formed by the World Health Organization to “lay out state responsibilities to strengthen national and global disease surveillance and response”.

China exerts a large influence on climate change, being the world’s second largest energy consumer (China Quick Facts). 70% of that energy is gained through a coal supply. China also has 20 of the 30 most polluted cities; with automobile standards way past their usefulness. Its industrialization results in a high demand for oil as well as metal resources. In 2004, China accounted for half of global growth in metals demand, and one-third of the global growth in oil demand (China Quick Facts). To tackle issues such as global warming it is key to first address countries like china that wields a large effect on the issue. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, according to the report, made the estimation that there is a seven year time difference between when we can start making significant changes and when environmental damage will be more or less unavoidable (Jones 25). If a solution is to be achieved, two tracks have to be followed. One is an abatement track and the other investment track. The investment track is relatively easy, this track involves the investment in technologies and practices that help limit the emission of harmful green house gases (Jones 25). China should and has in the past committed to a policy of controlling and reducing gas emissions. China is part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a standard associated with the helping control ever changing climate conditions, Participating countries agree to limit greenhouse emissions by 5.2% (Essential Background). The more recent Kyoto Protocol, which china is a participant of; is a treaty associated with the UNFCCC but tries to establish a more reinforce able agreement among nations. 37 industrialized countries and European communities have signed on to the Kyoto Protocol in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Kyoto). In 2000, china was congratulated by the UN for its ability to decrease carbon dioxide emissions by up to 17 percent (UN). Even though this was a stepping stone in the overall picture it amounts to some proof that progress was possible. China is an active member of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) which is part of the UNFCCC treaty (UN). The idea behind CDM is that developing countries that can’t afford to limit greenhouse emissions get compensation for their loses if they do manage to limit their emissions. For a certain ‘confirmed’ amount of CO2 that is limited the country gets ‘credits’ that can be sold (Clean). To improve on the countries overall automobile emission China has recently put into action new automobile standards similar to the ones set in Europe. Furthermore there is a plan to implement stricter oil consumption and pollutant emission standards (China Launches). To digress from the use of natural gas and oil all together will take a lot more work since national economic and political interests at this point in time interfere too much so for a country, like china, to be willing to go down the path of abatement.

Today there resides a lot of uncertainty about China’s future. Some fear an impending social and economic collapse while others perceive that china will become a superpower that will guide major events of the 21st century (Britt). China as shown here, already wields powerful influence on today’s top issues from global warming to the economy. The question is how long will that power of influence exist for. Even though the former possibility is definitely not sought after the latter can be dangerous as well. A revitalized global regime, like the one talked about in a Plan for Action can offer the needed security to China to help it prevent and solve any future crisis, having that the regime takes the necessary steps to be effective. At the same time the integration of China into the global regime, can secure China’s amity with the west. Of course for that ‘mixing of principles’ to be successful compromise is needed from both sides, whose ideologies still differ after decades of political ideological scrutiny. Pew analysts claim that china has failed to consider the national interests of other ‘western’ nations when making its policies (Britt). At the same time many other experts claim that China’s current success is highly based on maintaining good relations with other nations. Adam Segal, the Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow for China Studies at the nonpartisan Council on Foreign Relations claims that China’s relationship with the west has been’ moderate’ since the 90s and overall China has shown good relationship with surrounding nations (Britt). Essentially the future is uncertain, all current theories are based on assumptions and predictions there’s no clear path that china will definitely take. Proposals like the ones made in A Plan for Action help create a security net for China, so even though the future is uncertain, security still is definite.

THE END.