The Chinese Constitution of Central Asia: Regions and Intertwined Actors in International Relations

245 Pages·2014·2.75 MB·English

by  Nadine Godehardt (auth.)

The Chinese Constitution of Central Asia
Politics and Development of Contemporary China series
As China’s power grows, the search has begun in earnest for what superpower
status will mean for the People’s Republic of China as a nation as well as the
impact of its new-found influence on the Asia-Pacific region and the global inter-
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tions of China’s rise and transformation through a number of key areas includ-
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reflecting the truly international nature of the discipline.
Series Editors
Kevin Cai, Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Canada
Pan Guang, Shanghai Center for International Studies and Shanghai Academy
of Social Sciences, China
Daniel C. Lynch, School of International Relations, University of
Southern California, USA
Titles include:
Nadine Godehardt
THE CHINESE CONSTITUTION OF CENTRAL ASIA
Regions and Intertwined Actors in International Relations
Robert Weatherley
MAKING CHINA STRONG
The Role of Nationalism in Chinese Thinking on Democracy and
Human Rights
Politics and Development of Contemporary China
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Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
The Chinese Constitution
of Central Asia
Regions and Intertwined Actors in
International Relations
Nadine Godehardt
Research Associate, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Germany
© Nadine Godehardt 2014
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-35973-5
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First published 2014 by
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Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-47170-6 ISBN 978-1-137-35974-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137359742
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Contents
List of Tables and Figures vii
Acknowledgements viii
List of Abbreviations x
1 Introduction 1
Structure of the book 8
2 The Study of Regions in International Relations Theory 12
Regionalist studies – between cooperation and security 19
Typologies of regional orders 32
A plea for post- regionalism in IR 40
3 The Political Constitution of Regions 47
The ‘nothingness’ of geographic spaces 50
The difference between politics and the political 55
The associative, dissociative and indifferent ways
of the political 60
Conclusion 69
4 The Regional Embeddedness of Intertwined Actors 72
The regional dimension of IR 75
Performative action, language games and
intertwined actors 80
Intertwined actors making regions: the case of China 88
Conclusion 97
5 China and Central Asia: Twenty Years of a Demanding
Relationship 98
Indifference in the heartland of Eurasia 104
China’s bond with Central Asia: the role of Xinjiang 112
Conclusion: China – regional insider or outsider? 126
6 The Chinese Constitution of Central Asia 128
From Shanghai Five to SCO: how Chinese experts
write about Central Asia 130
Current issues in China– Central Asia relations:
how Chinese experts speak about Central Asia 146
Conclusion 173
v
vi Contents
7 Conclusion 179
Post- 2014 Afghanistan and the future of the
Chinese heartland 184
Appendix 187
Notes 188
Bibliography 202
Index 219
List of Tables and Figures
Tables
5.1 Timeline of Central Asian regional attempts 109
5.2 Regional organizations in Central Asia/Eurasia 111
Figures
4.1 Levels- of- analysis 80
4.2 Actor’s web of relations 81
4.3 The relationship between author, text and political
constitution 92
6.1 Zhao Huasheng argument 1 134
6.2 Zhao Huasheng argument 3 136
6.3 Zhao Huasheng argument 2a 137
6.4 Zhao Huasheng argument 2b 138
6.5 Xing Guangcheng and Sun Zhuangzhi argument 1 140
6.6 Yu Jianhua argument 1 141
6.7 Zhao Huasheng argument 4 142
6.8 Zhao Huasheng argument 6 143
6.9 Zhao Huasheng argument 5 145
6.10 Zhao Huasheng argument 7 146
6.11 Argument 1 147
6.12 Argument 2 151
6.13 Argument 3 152
6.14 Argument 4 154
6.15 Argument 5 158
6.16 Argument 6 161
6.17 Argument 7 162
6.18 Argument 8 166
6.19 Argument 9 169
6.20 Argument 10 170
vii
Acknowledgements
There have been many men and women in my life who either in person
or as a result of me reading their works inspired me to find my way in
academia. As such, I have been guided not only by great thinkers like
G. W. F. Hegel, Martin Heidegger or Hannah Arendt, but also by col-
leagues like Karoline P ostel- Vinay, Zheng Yongnian, Zhao Tingyang and
Oliver W. Lembcke. I am particularly indebted to them for the insight
that theory is a matter of perspective, and further that it is a neces-
sary tool for understanding the world in which we are already always
embedded.
My specific interest in China’s constitution of Central Asia, however,
emerged out of ongoing discussions about regional powers in inter-
national relations . Against this backdrop, China was also identified as
one of these regional powers – but I always wondered within which
region China could be considered to be located. To be sure, China is an
Asian power, but which ‘Asia’ are we referring to exactly: the Asia- Pacific
region, East Asia, South Asia or Central Asia? Five years ago, not many
books had been written about China’s role in Central Asia. Nevertheless,
the Chinese interpretation of her immediate Western neighbourhood
fascinated me right from the very first moment that I began discuss-
ing this topic with Chinese colleagues and friends. I realized that this
usually ignored geographic space located between Europe and Asia is
becoming – and not only through the developments in Afghanistan of
recent years – more and more important for China. Although Central
Asia is still not considered a top priority in Chinese foreign policy,
China’s commitments in that region tells us a lot about how regional
foreign policy works and how – owing to the potentially unstable situ-
ation in post- 2014 Afghanistan – l ong- standing principles of Chinese
foreign policy might be revised in the near future.
In the book I make reference to a fair amount of Chinese- language
materials, as well as to some G erman- language ones too. All translations
in this regard are, unless otherwise stated, my own. Regarding the tran-
scription of interviews, I would like to thank I- Jung Lee for her constant
support throughout. For the transliteration of Chinese characters into
Latin script, I have predominantly used the official Hanyu Pinyin sys-
tem (except for famous historical names or terms).
viii
Acknowledgements ix
This study would not have been possible without the guidance, ongo-
ing assistance and generous support of Su Chang, Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences, Dirk Nabers, University of Kiel, and Weichong Ong,
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Furthermore, I  am
extremely thankful to the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area
Studies and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs
for their extensive financial backing. I am also deeply grateful to the
many very good friends – David, Melanie, Nicola, Francesco, Xiaoyu,
Ryoma and James – who patiently listened to my ideas and tolerated my
often restless spirit. I dedicate this book to my family, in particular to my
grandmother, who was by far the strongest woman I have ever met, to
my parents, for all their love, and to my beloved Daniel, whom I thank
for his care, consistent encouragement and persistent faith in me.