One of the few International Relations books written in English by a Chinese scholar, Rising China and World Order provides insights into China's perspective on the changing world order and its major foreign policy challenges today. The author, Zhang Yunling (张蕴岭), is Director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The book consists of twelve of Zhang's articles and conference presentations since the late 1990s on China's approach to regional and global affairs. It covers such issues as the post-Cold War world order, China-US relations, the significance of China's rise, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and China's relations with its neighbors.
A member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Zhang is an eminent scholar-official, whose views are influential among decision-makers and academics in China. He offers a fresh perspective on many of the issues that are familiar to scholars of international relations. For example, international relations scholars, from neoliberals to neorealists, all emphasize how the international structure helps or hinders a nation's pursuit of interests. International institutions have become an important area of study. Most scholars focus on how the formal rules of the institutions affect policies of nation-states. Such institutions as the World Trade Organization and Association of Southeast Asian Nations are playing increasingly active roles in the international political economy. Interestingly, Zhang suggests that there are two types of institutionalization: “hard” institutionalization, usually with a formal organization to manage international affairs, and “soft” institutionalization, which arises from an informal security network for consultation and cooperation (p. 18). The concept of “soft institutionalization” is rarely mentioned in relevant Western literature but is typical of Chinese thinking and practice. Informal networks or guanxi can certainly grease the wheels in international interactions and are perhaps as important as formal institutions.
In another example, Zhang's view on the North Korea issue in Chapters 6 and 7, though a little repetitive, represents a non-Western way of thinking. Western governments and media routinely talk about “the threat from North Korea” when referring to the isolated communist country. Yet few ever look at the issue from the other side and discuss “the threat to North Korea” (p. 105). Indeed, from North Korea's perspective, it is the United States and its allies that are intimidating North Korea. The United States, which rejects direct talks with North Korea, maintains a forward deployment of over 50,000 troops in South Korea and Japan and routinely conducts joint military exercises with its allies at the doorsteps of North Korea. For North Korea, the US military threat is imminent and real. North Korean leaders were reportedly shocked when they saw how the United States military swiftly ended Saddam Hussein's rule in Iraq. Before North Korea's security is guaranteed, one wonders, why should it give up its nuclear program, which serves as a deterrent to protect itself from a potential US preemptive strike?
Zhang provides an alternative view on issues like North Korea and US-China relations. One does not have to agree with Zhang's observations, but his perspective challenges dominant Western views and has policy implications. Zhang has proposed a package agreement about North Korea that contains three basic parts: ending North Korea's nuclear program, ending hostile policies toward North Korea, and building a mechanism for regional security (p. 117). Obviously, it takes two to tango. To simply demand that North Korea dismantle its nuclear program without recognizing its legitimate interests and concerns is not only condescending but also counterproductive. Zhang's proposed comprehensive package deal is particularly significant as the international community is struggling to come up with a viable solution to the North Korea dilemma now.
Most Western publishers would probably reject this manuscript out of hand for its less than perfect English, its unconventional perspective, and its occasional subjective expressions such as that the China and the United States “should work together for regional development, prosperity and stability” (p. 20). Also, some ideas in the chapters sound more like opinion pieces than serious academic analysis. Despite these obvious shortcomings, the book is a welcome addition to the current literature on Chinese foreign policy and Chinese thinking on major contemporary security, political, and economic issues. World Scientific Publishing in Singapore deserves praise for presenting the book to a wide audience in international relations.
It is too early to tell whether and how this book, together with a small number of other books representing Chinese views, will shape the Western discourse on Chinese foreign policy and external relations. Nevertheless, policymakers, academics, and students in International Relations, East Asian politics, and Foreign Policy studies interested in understanding Chinese foreign policy and Chinese perspectives on regional and global affairs will find this book stimulating and useful.
