Public Participation In China’s Middle East Foreign Policy Making: Impact And Institution

In the light of the theories of foreign policy making (FPM), this paper, from theperspective of public-government relations, probes into the impact of the public factoron the FPM after the unfolding of the public diplomacy in China. The researchfocuses on the effect of public participation in the policy making process of China’sMiddle East diplomacy and is carried out mainly in two aspects: i) analyzing thecharacteristics, patterns, motivations and methods of public participation mode byreviewing the historical public involvement in China’s Middle East diplomacy; ii),concluding that the policy making mechanism of China’s Middle East diplomacyinvolving public participation requires further enrichment and improvement throughtypical case studies, and offering suggestions for promoting innovation of the FPMmechanism.This paper studies the impact of public participation on China’s Middle EastFPM mainly from four dimensions:1) History of public participation in China’s Middle East FPM. This paperfurthers the research on the impact of the public factor on China’s FPM from China’sdiplomatic relations with the Powers to the field of China’s relations with otherregions, with a broad view covering both the overall situation in the Middle East andsuch major countries with a diversity of ethnic groups and cultures as the Arab states,Israel, Iran and Turkey, etc., and studies the historical developing stages of publicparticipation in FPM based upon proper classification of China’s public group.Furthermore, by studying the China public understanding of the Middle East regionand the major countries, this paper analyzes the historical and practical motivationsbehind the public’s attention to China’s Middle East diplomacy as both a result ofpeople’s consistent concern over relations between the Powers and a necessaryrequirement for comparing China and the Middle East countries both under socialtransition, with the reflection form under the influence of three key elements:emotions, interests and morality (responsibility).2) The milestone of public participation in China’s Middle East FPM. This paperchooses the Middle East region as the research subject, one of representative valueand realistic significance in studying FPM and public participation from theperspective of China’s relations with other regions; focusing on the Iraq War, amilestone of public participation in China’s Middle East FPM, this paper analyzes thenew trends of public participation (the unprecedented overall media coverageinfluences the extent and depth of public participation, public opinions differ fromanti-war to support-war before the Iraqi war, etc.), new characteristics (makingexplicit appeals through online interactions, presenting views corresponding butdifferent to the official opinions, and expressing both rational and perceptualcommentaries, etc.) and new patterns (the public expressed opinions to thegovernment in different ways with the government replies, showing various andabundant communications in the interactive process of all acting parties) of publicparticipation in FPM.3) The motivation behind public participation in China’s Middle East FPM. It’s illustrated in this paper that the public participators in China’s Middle East FPMinclude the general public, media, scholars, think-tanks, enterprises and civicorganizations. After the Iraq War in2003, since the situation in the Middle Eastclosely connected to China’s key interests has become more complicated andchangeable, China’s Middle East FPM has received broader, deeper and morepersistent impact from the public. By case studies, this paper identifies sixmotivations behind the public’s deep attention to China’s Middle East FPM: statesovereignty interests, geopolitical interests, overseas economic interests, overseasChinese safety interests, foreign countries’ public diplomacy with China, and socialvalue as a greater role of domestic affairs in foreign policies.4) The construction of China’s FPM mechanism. By objectively evaluating theimpact of public participation on China’s Middle East FPM, this paper reflects thatChina’s FPM mechanism remains to be enriched and improved, and suggestsenhancing the diplomacy capacity and promoting the institutional innovation of FPMby such means as establishing a sound national education mechanism on foreignaffairs, improving the information releasing mechanism for unclassified foreignaffairs, strengthening the mechanism of public participation in foreign affairs andadvancing the mechanism of interaction between the government and the generalpublic. This paper emphasizes the significance of recognizing, understanding andregarding the trend of the public’s intensifying interest in participating in China’sFPM and the deepening degree of influence exercised hereby, and suggestsestablishing a mechanism of positive interaction between the government FPMdepartment and the general public.