Study On China And ROK's City Diplomacy From The Perspective Of Multi-level Diplomacy Theory

It has been nearly 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Republic of Korea(ROK)in 1992,and the history of exchanges between the local governments of the two countries is much longer than this.City diplomacy has become a unique factor in promoting the development of bilateral relations.In terms of the basic form and main achievements of China-ROK's city diplomacy--the establishment of international sister cities,from counting the first formal establishment of sister city relations between Lianyungang City and Mokpo City on July 1,1993,China and ROK have twined 206 pairs of sister cities(twin cities)up to September31,2020,and ROK has become the country which has signed the most sister cities agreements with China,except for Japan and the United States.Initially,Lianyungang City in China and Mokpo City in ROK established a sister-city relationship mainly based on economic considerations.However,today,the field of China-ROK city diplomatic cooperation is no longer limited to the field of economic,trade and investment,and its exchanges and development have been widely radiated to local government affairs,cultural tourism,scientific and technological innovation,education and training,medical and health,sports,women and children's rights,environmental protection,urban governance and other fields,and the results of exchanges can be described as full bloom.At the same time,the level of exchanges between the local governments of China and ROK has continued to deepen,from the original provincial and municipal administrative units to district and county administrative units,with social organizations,civic groups and even individuals joining the ranks.It can be said that city diplomacy has provided new opportunities for the development of local relations between China and ROK and created a favorable atmosphere.It has played an active role in promoting economic and trade investment,cultural tourism,education and training,urban governance,ecological protection and many other aspects,and has achieved good results and are conducive to the people.After the initial contact and exploration stage,the development of China-ROK urban diplomacy gradually moved towards a stage of steady growth through negotiating and adjusting.The purpose and goals of their exchanges have shifted from the initial focus on gaining to win-win cooperation.In this context,the form of the establishment of China-ROK international sister cities is no longer limited to the “one-to-one” relationship,but has begun to shift to the “one-to-many” approach,and the exchange model has developed from bilateral-oriented to bilateral and multilateral.The local governments of China and ROK are more deeply aware of the positive and constructive role of city international organizations,and the objects of communicating are gradually radiating from economically developed regions to other regions.In general,China and ROK's city diplomacy is developing well,achieving satisfying results and accumulating rich practical experience.Certainly,we cannot ignore the problems in the development of China-ROK Korea's city diplomacy.For example,the overall development of sister cities is unbalanced,the form of cooperation is relatively simple,the lack of private participation,insufficient publicity leading to misunderstanding among the people,the expansion of trade triggering economic and trade friction between the two sides,and etc.Although the local governments of China and ROK have made unremitting efforts and explorations for this,they often twice as much can be accomplished with half the effort.The reasons are very complicated,and some structural factors are far beyond the reach of local governments.For example,at the supranational level,more and more international organizations have played a role and gradually changed the existing pattern of exchanges.At the national level,it is difficult to eliminate the influence of factors such as the constraints of the central government and domestic politics.At the non-governmental level,social organization entities such as non-governmental organizations and media groups also seek to express their interests in foreign exchanges,which have become important factors that cannot be ignored.Domestic politics and international politics are intertwined,and local,national and international affairs are blended.At this stage,the development of city diplomacy between China and ROK is facing an increasingly complex situation and environment,which requires further in-depth theoretical research and policy discussion.In view of this,this article is based on the four levels of supranational actors,national actors,sub-national actors,and social actors,with the support of Brian Hocking's multi-level diplomacy theory,and the integration of Gary Marks and Lisbet Hooghe's multi-level governance theory to form an overall analysis framework for theoretical interpretation and concrete understanding of the development of China and ROK's city diplomacy.From the perspective of multi-level diplomacy theory,some practical problems in the development of city diplomacy in China and ROK are caused by the interaction of multiple actors,which are far from being solved by the local government level alone.Similarly,those that play a role in the multi-level political arena also include various international organizations at the level of supranational actors,representatives of state actors — the central government,and non-governmental organizations at the level of social actors and increasingly active various types of media power.As civil society,local administration,national politics,and international politics are increasingly integrated into a multi-layered world political arena under the interaction of the internalization of international politics and the internationalization of domestic politics,the development of China-ROK city diplomacy involves more and more levels.If any one of these actors wants to achieve their own value goals,they must simultaneously take actions at the local,national and international levels in order to be able to hopefully achieve ultimate success.Obviously,the sustained and healthy development of China-ROK's city diplomacy is inseparable from the joint efforts and cooperation of social actors,local governments,central governments,and international organizations.Based on the perspective of multi-level diplomacy theory,the current development of city diplomacy between China and ROK has outstanding problems such as a single form of cooperation,insufficient private participation,insufficient propaganda,and misunderstandings among the people.Although local governments may be able to deal with some of these problems on their own.Balancing the regional development and resolving economic and trade frictions between the two countries are beyond the capabilities of local governments.Take local economic and trade frictions between China and ROK as an example.Although civic group protests,anti-dumping investigations,and construction of technical barriers often appear to be unitary,the essence is not unrelated to both China and ROK as a foreign trade economic growth model at the national level.With the acceleration of the upgrading and transformation of China's industrial structure,the product gap between China and ROK has narrowed,market competition has become fierce,and the economic and trade dependence of the two countries is quite high.Although the local governments of China and ROK have greater willingness to seek solutions to these problems,adjustments to foreign trade and industrial structure policies are within the jurisdiction of the central government,and local governments have no choice but to do so,especially on sensitive issues such as politics,security and diplomacy.However,the above appearance does not mean that local governments are incapable of doing anything.In fact,the local governments of China and ROK can take advantage of the opportunities of participating in international sub-regional cooperation and international city organizations to create a good environment and conditions for their own economic and social development,and work together to find more cooperation opportunities on international platforms.Under the framework of UN,and with the help of WTO rules to resolve disputes between each other.All in all,actively promoting the development of China-ROK city diplomacy conforms to the core interests of the two countries and is conducive to the steady,long-term and healthy development of the China-ROK strategic partnership.In this process,the local government,the central government and the international organization at the three main levels of the joint efforts,overall scheduling and coordination are indispensable.Among these,an important issue that cannot be ignored is the unbalanced development of China-ROK sister cities.This is not only related to China and ROK's local resource endowment conditions and the governance capabilities and willingness of local governments,but also closely related to national-level macro development policies.In this regard,in addition to the active efforts of local governments themselves,it is also necessary to balance the allocation of resources in the national-level macro-policies,especially to give policy preference to the backward areas of China and ROK to promote them to embark on the path of outward-oriented cooperation and development to play a more role of comprehensive demonstration of the positive and constructive of city diplomacy in the development of China-ROK partnership in the new era.