Contemporary Chinese Awareness Of The Process Of European Integration And The European Response

This dissertation paper examines the perception of Europe as a unity (European Economic Community/European Union) in the contemporary Chinese political elite. It focuses specifically on the analysis of the contents and evolution of the perception of Europe in the four historical leaders of the Chinese Communist Party:Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. This research covers a time scope of 61 years, since the proclamation of the Chinese People's Republic in 1949 to present. This period of time almost corresponds with the European Integration process, which starts in 1952 with the creation of European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), two communities considered as the precursor of the European Union.This paper aims to expand the knowledge about the question of today's communitarian "European Identity" by providing what the author considers a very relevant reference:the vision of Europe held by the Chinese political elite. The four Chinese leaders'perception of Europe analyzed in this paper comes from the analysis of their public open discourse, the discourse reflected in their public speeches and statements. Our research has included a wide range of the most relevant contemporary western research perspectives and conceptual frameworks to analyze Chinese texts.The paper is divided in 6 chapters:an introduction, the main body and final conclusions. The main body consists of 4 chapters (2-5) each of them devoted to each leader:Mao, Deng, Jiang and Hu. Every chapter has the same structure:a short introduction, a summary of the European Integration process at the time of each leader's mandate, a review of each leader's political world vision and foreign policy orientation, an in depth analysis of each leader's perception of Europe and a closing conclusion.The chapter one introduces the conceptual framework of the research:research aim and justification, it reviews previous academic work related to the subject, and exposes the research approach, methodology and sourcesThe chapter two focuses in Mao Zedong perception of Europe. It analyses Mao's world vision taking into account three factors:the weight of ideology, the importance of the recent Chinese history and Mao's own revolutionary experience. Europe is seen in Mao's perception as an "intermediate zone" or "second world". It concludes that Mao's vision of Europe was limited due to the rigidity of ideology of Cold war, the absence of direct communication channels between China and Europe and a misperception of Europe and US relations.Chapter three analyses Deng Xiaoping perception of Europe. It first examines Deng's world political vision attending to three periods of time:"United front against Soviet Hegemonism" (1977-1982); independent Foreign policy, promoting world peace and development (1982-1989) and answer to the international reaction to Tiananmen event (1989-1992). Deng's perception of Europe also evolves following his changes in foreign policy approach:Europe was seen at the beginning of Deng's tenure as a possible partner in defense and military affaires (1978-1982), after that, Deng held a more realistic view of Europe as a peace promoting community and important trade and economic partner. The Crack of Tiananmen brought a very low moment in China-EU relations and a downgrade of Europe perception. The sanctions imposed to China lead Deng Xiaoping to recall the hegemonic past of Europe and see Europe's intervention as a new form of Contemporary "imperialism. This part concludes highlighting the Sinocentric component in China's vision of Europe and the impact of European Universalism in the Chinese perception of Europe.Chapter four examines Jiang Zemin perception of Europe. It first explores Jiang's World political vision, in which globalization and multipolarity are the historical background. China's vow for a new international system and a new Chinese security concept are also analyzed in this section, the author also examines the concept of "the century of humiliation" the end of China's "victim" mentality and the rise of a "great power" country mentality. Jiang perception of Europe is upgraded by a broad institutionalization of the China-Eu dialogue at every level. Annual EU-China summits are held since 1998. The EU exposes for the first time in 1995 a clear strategy for China Nevertheless, the author argues that during this time the perception of Europe is not completely independent, it is rather associated to an antiwestern political environment that followed the clash of Communism in Europe and the end of the Soviet Union. This chapter highlights in its conclusion the different approach to China's rise held by Europe and America, arguing that these differences were not fully understood at that tie by Chinese leaders.Chapter five regards to Hu Jintao. It first explores the change of discourse in the fourth generation leaders, and the formulation of "harmonious world". It also highlights the trends of Chinese new diplomacy, which covers a range of issues from relations with great powers, Asian neighbors, the third world and multilateral organizations. Regarding Hu's perception of Europe, it evolves from considering EU-China as an "emerging axis" (2003-2006), to the acknowledgment of "non harmonious" aspects like economic and trade frictions (2006-2008), to fall at a lowest point of 21 century in 2008 China-EU crisis. In the conclusion of this chapter the author highlights the fact that, for the first time, the fourth generation of Chinese leaders hold an "independent" vision of Europe, nevertheless, "asymmetries" between China and European surge in aspects like global governance and values. This conclusion chapter ends with a reflection about Chinese new "Tianxia" concept of world order and European Universalism.Chapter six exposes the paper final conclusions. The chapter includes four sections:the first one relating to the evolution of perception process in the four generation leaders from an individual perception to a collective perception; the second one deals with the Chinese perception of the European integration process; the third one is related to the Chinese perception of the EU as an international actor; the final section examines the Chinese leaders perception of the Identity of the EU with especial emphasis on the Chinese understanding of European values.