China's Participation In The International Security Regimes

As a rising power, China is facing a diplomatic issue of how to engage in the international system. Because security is the core interest of a country, the participation of a state in the international security regimes can reflect most the mergence level of that country. This article tries to start with China's participation in the international security regimes to analyze the advantages and disadvantages in its participation in the international societies. In addition, considering China's strategic aim of peaceful rising, the article addresses the attitude and strategic choice China ought to adopt in the future.The article addresses these questions in four parts:The first part mainly analyzes the process,characteristics and interest foundation of China's participation in the international security regime. This section considers that China's participation has undergone a winding process: from rejection to limited participation, and then participation in all scale. Although the range is expanding continuously, the quantity has not improved virtually, and there are large differences among participations in different regimes. Behind the different even opposite attitudes, there is complicated consideration of interests. The factors affecting the judgment of national interests also influence China's participation behavior. Accordingly, the article puts forward the analysis frame with structure and process of international system and cognition of policymaker as the independent variables, while the judgment of China's national interests as the dependent variable.The second part, based on the analysis frame, explores the active effect of the changes in the structure and process of international system and cognition of policymaker. Since the end of the Second World War, the structure of international system changes from the tense two-poles to loose two-poles, and then to multi-polarization. Accompanying with that, the process of international system have largely influenced on international relations. The dominant culture of international relations is become as the function of international security regimes improving obviously, coordination and cooperation taking place of competition and confrontation. These changes pushed the alteration in the security conception of China's leaders, and then participating in security regimes becomes an important choice for China to achieve national security interests. Once participating in it, the socialization is unavoidable which brings the need of going step further. The improvement of China's participating quantity had great relationship with that process.The third part analyzes the negative factors affecting China's participation still from the angle of structure and process of international system and cognition of leaders. Viewed from the structure, the anarchy determines that a country being sensitive to relative benefit will choose Self-Help rather than Cooperation when it is possible for them to benefit from collaboration. Some aspects in the changes of international system process also hinder China from joining the regimes. On one hand the increasing contacts among countries provide convenience for great power relying on its strength to interfere in domestic affairs of other countries and to restrain strategic opponent, and the international regimes also degrade to become their tools. On the other hand, the fragility of the international security regimes prevents them from playing an active part in protecting the international security. Considering that the cost of participation surpassing the benefit from it, the country as a rational actor would refuse to join it. So does China. What is more, the humiliated history of nearly a hundred years taught China a bitter lesson. The psychology of victim and the weak status at present make China being very sensitive to sovereignty and vigilant to the international security regimes which are dominated by western countries. Therefore, it is very natural for China to refuse or delay to join the international security regimes which constrain its improvement of relative strength. The fourth part, centering on China's strategic aim of peaceful rising, puts forward the attitude and strategic choice China ought to adopt in participation in the light of those obstacles. It is very important for China to deal with these negative factors, including the strategic restraint from the existent power, the misgivings from neighboring countries and the non-traditional security threat following the globalization, to achieve its aim of peaceful rising .China must learn to use every strategic resource to enlarge its room for maneuver. While the moderate participation at the right moment can help to eliminate the negative affect of"China threat theory", to win trust of other countries to avoid being isolated by them. Meanwhile, it is very helpful to ameliorate the Security Dilemma and to counter the challenges of non-traditional security threats. The strengthening influence of international security regime after Cold War, China's enhancing position in international society and the development of multi-polarization trend have provided more space for China's participation. Consequently, it is wise for China to go step further in participating in the international security regimes.In the final part, the article addresses that the security strategy of a country should not stick to an inveterate form in the condition of more and more complicated trend of international relations. We can not catch opportunities, if there is no flexibility in the strategy. Therefore, China's security strategy should explore more resources besides Self-Help. The international security regimes are complicated and versatile, and there are advantages and disadvantages in participating in them. However, we should not retreat from difficulties. As long as keeping necessary sovereignty, China's active and flexible participation will play an active role in promoting mechanism, world peace and development. Meanwhile, it can also create opportunities for maneuver in space for its peaceful rising, and achieve national security in interaction with the international community with a lower price.