Norms and their Implications for the Making of China's Foreign Aid Policy since 1949: Case Studies of Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America by YEHHui-Chi A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of East Asian Studies University of Sheffield April 2010 ABSTRACT This thesis will apply the constructivist theory of International Relations (IR) to the study of Chinese foreign policy, beginning with an examination of the IR theories, realism, liberalism and constructivism, and how each theory explains Chinese foreign policy and its aid behaviour. It will focus on norms and their implications for the making of China's foreign aid policy. Four norms, Asianism, internationalism, sovereignty, and developmental ism are discussed and related to their specific roles in China's policy making. Asianism involves the construction of an Asian identity within Asia, internationalism involves the development of international responsibility, sovereignty entails non-interference in other countries' affairs, and developmentalism involves the transmission of the Beijing Consensus. The analysis continues by linking China's identity to each norm in an historical overview of Chinese foreign policy since 1949. The overview demonstrates how China's identity has become transformed at critical stages throughout the history of the PRC, from victim to neutral actor, to its present great power state, and how these changes in identity have influenced China's subsequent behaviour. By examining three cases, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America, this thesis seeks to explain China's foreign policy within each region and highlights how China's policies have been guided by its identity and the mutually constituted norms during its periods of regional activity. The Southeast Asia study is focussed on all four norms, whilst the African and Latin American studies address internationalism, sovereignty and developmental ism. Particular attention is placed upon China's changing identity and its impact on China's future foreign policy and application of foreign aid. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and support of my supervisor Professor Tim Wright. Without his knowledge, expertise and encouragement, I do not believe I could have completed this thesis. His support in providing resources and material crucial to my research is greatly appreciated. I would like to thank Professor Wright for his understanding, patience, and endurance in reviewing and commenting on my drafts, along with the encouragement and advice he offered during my field surveys and research trips to China. I would also like to thank Professor Hugo Dobson for his undying effort in keeping me focused and on track. He was very understanding and generous with extensions and late submissions of my drafts. Without his knowledge and guidance on IR theory, I would not have been able to make a theoretical analysis of the research. I consider myself fortunate to have had Professor Tim Wright and Professor Hugo Dobson, two experts in China and IR Theory, supervise my PhD and provide me with the confidence to see it to completion. Their kindness and support I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Thank You. I would like to express my appreciation to the University of Sheffield with special thanks to the School of East Asian Studies and its staff for its financial and academic support. I would also like to thank the University Excellence Scheme for providing me with a scholarship to carry out my fieldwork at the Shanghai Institute for international Studies (SIIS) Sept.-Dec. 2006. Finally, I would like to thank the Universities' China Committee in London (UCCL) for providing me with a research grant to conduct fieldwork at Peking University and Renmin University of China in Beijing Sep. 2007 - Feb. 2008. I am also grateful to the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS), Peking University and Renmin University of China's Schools of International Studies, for hosting me and providing me with access to their research and experts on Chinese foreign aid policy. Let me also thank the interviewees who took time off their busy schedules to answer my questions. Their candid responses and insights were extremely valuable to my research, knowledge, and understanding of China's foreign aid policy. Special thanks to: Professor Chen Vue, Professor Li Baojun, Professor Li Yihu, Professor Guo Shuyong, Professor Yu Xintian, and Professor Zhang Haibing, for their kindness and support. Their aid and support in making it possible to interview policy planners and scholars was crucial to my 11 research. Finally, I would like to thank my internal and external exammers Professors Glenn Hook, Zhang Yongjin for their time and guidance towards the completion of this thesis. \II ANOTE ON THE TEXT All Chinese sources, including interviews, have been translated into English by the author, with Chinese pronunciation translated into English via the Pinyin method. Key Chinese terminology has been written according to the pinyin system and written in italics. It is the convention in China to use family names first followed by their given name. This thesis adheres to this convention, unless the author has adopted an English name, where the given name precedes the family name. IV CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II A NOTE ON THE TEXT IV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VlIi ABBREVIATIONS IX GLOSSARY XlI PART ONE 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 The intention of the thesis 2 1.2 Question 4 1.3 The contribution to Chinese Studies 5 1.4 The importance of the research findings to IR theory 7 1.5 The organisation of the thesis 9 CHAPTER 2 CHINAAND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY 11 2.1 IR theory and the Chinese case 11 2.2 Realism 12 2.2.1 What does realism reveal about China's foreign relations? 17 2.2.2 The implications of realism for the understanding of 19 China's foreign aid 2.3 Liberalism 22 2.3.1 What does liberalism reveal about China's foreign relations? 25 2.3.2 The implications of liberalism for the understanding of 28 China's foreign aid 2.4 Constructivism 30 2.4.1 The impact of norms on foreign policy 31 2.4.2 What does constructivism reveal about China's foreign relations? 35 2.4.3 The implications of constructivism for the understanding of 39 China's foreign aid CHAPTER 3 NORMS AND CHINA 42 3.1 Introduction 42 3.2 Internationally embedded norms 45 3.2.1 Asianism 45 i) Definition 45 ii) Evolution and influence 46 3.2.2 Internationalism 50 i) Definition 50 ii) Evolution and influence 51 3.3 Domestically embedded norms 5-1- 3.3.1 Sovereignty 54 i) Definition 5-1- ii) Evolution and influence 55 3.3.2 Developmentalism 62 i) Definition 62 ii) Evolution and influence 65 iii) How China presents the Beijing Consensus 68 iv) How the world perceives the Beijing Consensus 70 v) The features of developmental ism in China's foreign aid 72 3.4 The trajectory of identities and norms in China's foreign relations 72 since 1949 PART TWO 84 CHAPTER 4 CHINA'S FOREIGN AID TO SOUTHEAST ASIA 85 4.l The significance of the Southeast Asian case 85 4.2 Historical relations with Southeast Asia 90 4.3 Norms in Chinese aid to Southeast Asia 94 4.3.1 Asianism 94 i) The 1997 Asian financial crisis 95 ii) 2003 SARS epidemic and 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami crises 97 iii) 2007 Global financial crisis 99 4.3.2 Internationalism 102 4.3.3 Sovereignty 106 i) The sovereignty norm in the case of Myanmar 108 4.3.4 Developmentalism 110 i) Forms of developmental assistance 111 ii) A regional focus 113 4.4 Summary 115 CHAPTER 5 CHINA'S FOREIGN AID TO AFRICA 126 5.1 The significance of the African case 126 5.2 Historical Relations with Africa 129 5.2.l Years aligned with the Soviets 129 5.2.2 Years of isolation 132 5.2.3 China's activities following its admission to the UN 135 5.3 Norms in Chinese aid to Africa 140 5.3.1 Internationalism 1-1-0 5.3.2 Sovereignty 145 i) 'Non-interference' in the political context 148 ii) 'Non-interference' in the economic context 150 VI iii) The Sudan case 151 5.3.3 Developmentalism 153 i) The Case of Tanzania 155 ii) Comparison of developmental ism with the Western model 158 5.4 Summary 161 CHAPTER 6 CHINA'S FOREIGN AID TO LATIN AMERICA 167 6.1 The significance of the Latin American case 167 6.2 Historical relations with Latin America 172 6.3 Norms in Chinese aid to Latin America 181 6.3.1 Internationalism 181 i) The evolution of internationalism in Latin America 182 6.3.2 Sovereignty 187 i) The effectiveness of the sovereignty norm 187 ii) Limitations of the sovereignty norm 190 6.3.3 Developmentalism 192 i) The practice of the Beijing Consensus 193 ii) Limitations to developmental ism in Latin America 195 6.4 Summary 197 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION 204 7.1 Findings of the study 204 7.1.1 The role of norms for the making of China's foreign aid policy 204 since 1949 7 .1.2 Norm implications for China's foreign aid 211 7.1.3 Factors contributing to and resulting from shifts 213 in China's identity 7.2 Contributions and future work 214 APPENDIX 1 China's identity and behaviour between the 1950s and 201 Os 216 --Southeast (SE) Asia, Africa and Latin America APPENDIX 2 Factors inducing evolution of the norms between the 1950s and 201 Os 219 APPENDIX 3 Published data used for estimating regional norms 221 BIBLIOGRAPHY 229 VIl LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Figure 2.1 The norm life cycle 32 Figure 3.1 Relationship between norms, identity, and image 83 Figure 4.1 The number of ASEAN and ASEAN related summits per five year 118 period Figure 4.2 The cumulative number of cooperative agreements signed 119 between ASEAN, China, Japan and Korea, between 1993-2009 Figure 4.3 The number of international organizations joined by the PRC 121 Figure 4.4 The variation of a coefficient of non-interference from 1950-2010 123 Figure 4.5 The increase in uptake of developmentalism between 2002 and 125 2008 in Southeast Asia Figure 5.1 The cumulative membership of international organisations by 163 decade from 1950-2010 Figure 5.2 The variation ofa coefficient of non-interference from 1950-2010 164 Figure 5.3 Comparison of norm unintended rhetoric and norm intended 166 practice of Developmentalism between 2002 and 2008, in Africa.