China switches diplomatic focus from sea disputes to its economic vision
Beijing taking a different approach to security forums and high-level exchanges
China is taking a different approach to security forums and high-level diplomatic exchanges to shift global attention away from its actions in the South China Sea and towards its "One Belt, One Road" campaign, analysts say.
The goal is to take advantage of the opportunities to showcase the benefits that projects like the Beijing-led infrastructure bank can bring to the region, they say.
The new tact was on display at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last month. Defence delegations and experts from about 30 countries listened to Chinese officials lay down a vision for a more connected region - but one that still serves Beijing's interests in shifting the mainland economy outwards.
"China proposes the 'Belt and Road' initiative, and is in the process of establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and all of these will bring tangible benefits to countries in the region," Admiral Sun Jianguo, China's top military representative, told the forum.
General Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, echoed a similar line during his visit to Washington last week. Fan called on his US counterpart Ash Carter to avoid stoking tensions over the South China Sea issue, and instead "take the higher ground to look into the far future by paying more attention to other, more important regional and international issues".
The United States and regional claimants to the South China Sea say Beijing's reclamation work in the area could be used for military purposes, and may be a precursor to an air defence identification zone, like the one established in the East China Sea.
Beijing insists the new structures will benefit civilian maritime traffic.
A Chinese international relations scholar said delegates in previous years were told to be ready to eat humble pie at international security forums. "We once described Asia security forums as denunciation meetings, with Beijing playing the role of a new landlord criticised by small Asian countries like how peasants scolded their bosses" during the Cultural Revolution, said the scholar, who requested anonymity. "But now Beijing has realised these large security forums like the Shangri-La Dialogue can be an ideal showcase to promote new initiatives like the New Silk Road strategy and the AIIB."
Professor Wang Yiwei, an American studies expert at Renmin University, said the "One Belt" plan was not just a diplomatic objective, but also an economic initiative that would need decades for China to break even.
"China is willing to do it because it has to seek overseas markets for further development after economic opening up and rapid growth over the past three decades," Wang said. "China cannot repeat the road taken by the US … to exclude some countries because this is a 21st century new model."
Dr Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy, a research associate at the Institute of South Asian Studies at National University of Singapore, said the lack of political trust between Beijing and its neighbours had made selling that vision more difficult.
"The initiative aims to seize the opportunity of transforming Asia and to create strategic space for China. Some people feel that through this initiative China is trying to 're-establish a China-dominated regional order'," Rajeev said. "Many countries in the region, including India, are not fully convinced. I think China has yet to cultivate much-needed political and strategic trust."
