Stronger China develops signs of a dual character
China has a voracious appetite for foreign natural resources to power its economic growth, a hunger shown by recent investment forays into continents as far apart as America, Africa and Australia.
When approved by local regulators, these investments in energy reserves and mines are a legitimate way for a rising power to make its presence felt abroad. But China also seeks to expand its land and maritime borders. This gives the world's most populous nation the character of a status quo power and a revisionist state.
As Beijing prepares for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic on October 1, its rapid ascent as an influential player in global affairs raises questions about the nature of the Chinese state and the way it is evolving.
On the one hand, China shows acceptance of the global and regional order through is rising membership of international agencies.
For example, its share of the global market for export goods is more than 9 per cent, nearly treble its 3.5 per cent share in 1999, two years before it joined the World Trade Organisation. China surpassed Germany to become the world's leading exporter earlier this year and its exports are projected to account for 12 per cent of global trade by 2014.
To continue this rapid commercial expansion, China needs a stable international environment in which countries can compete economically without the disruption of military conflict. In line with its pledge of peaceful development, China has become increasingly involved with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other regional groupings in Asia over the past decade.
While China advances its national interests by working through global and regional agencies, and may seek to reform them, it also accepts the rules and norms they uphold.
But, there is another side to China. By maintaining extensive territorial claims on regions contested by its neighbours, China is one of the world's leading irredentist states.
Will growing economic and military might, and other means of influence, tempt China to enforce its land and sea claims in future?
China is the world's fourth-largest country by land mass, after Russia, Canada and the US. On land, its most intractable dispute is with India.
Securing maritime rights and power has become a top national priority for China. Its total water area is just over 270,000 square kilometres, less than half that of the US. However, China claims maritime territory of 3 million square kilometres - more than 11 times its existing sea domain. Most of it is in two areas - the South China Sea, where Beijing's claims overlap those of several Asean countries, and the East China Sea, where its claims are contested by Japan.
Some recent developments suggest that China is becoming more assertive in advancing its land and sea claims as its ability to enforce them increases, and the strategic and economic value of the assets encompassed in the claims rises. The assets include extensive offshore oil and gas reserves and valuable fisheries.
However, in recent years China has shown restraint and readiness to resolve territorial disputes through dialogue. It is engaged in productive talks with Taiwan, although Beijing has not dropped its pledge to use force to prevent the island from any move towards independence.
Elsewhere, China has settled at least 11 border disputes with its immediate neighbours.
As China's trade, investment and other engagement with the region grow, its interest in preserving stability may come to outweigh its interest in enforcing territorial claims. No one can be sure that this will be the result. But it should be a top priority for American and Asian diplomacy.
How China pursues land and sea claims in coming years will have a critical impact on the Asia-Pacific region: it will shape Sino-US relations and determine the way it is regarded by all its neighbours.
Michael Richardson is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
