Beijing’s revisionist ambition for the international order derives from the objectives of its national strategy and the Party’s political and governing systems….writes Sanjeev Sharma
Chinas strategy aims to achieve “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” by 2049 to match or surpass US global influence and power, displace .S alliances and security partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, and revise the international order to be more advantageous to Beijings authoritarian system and national interests, a report by US Defence Department said.
This strategy can be characterized as a determined pursuit of far-ranging efforts to expand the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China) national power, the report said.
The PRC has characterised China’s view of strategic competition in terms of a rivalry among powerful nation states, as well as a clash of opposing ideological systems.
Beijing views the US as increasingly determined to contain the PRC, creating potential obstacles to its strategy. Additionally, the PRC’s leaders are increasingly willing to confront the United States and other countries in areas where interest diverge.
The PRC’s foreign policy seeks to build a “community of common destiny” that supports its strategy to realize “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. Beijing’s revisionist ambition for the international order derives from the objectives of its national strategy and the Party’s political and governing systems.
ALSO READ: ‘China won’t try to attack in Tsai’s term’
In 2019, the PRC recognised that its armed forces should take a more active role in advancing its foreign policy, highlighting the increasingly global character that Beijing ascribes to its military power.
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic was a driving force behind the PRC’s foreign policy efforts, as Beijing sought to deflect any culpability for the virus and its initial spread, and to capitalise on its narrative of domestic success and foreign assistance.
The PRC’s military modernisation objectives are commensurate with, and part of, Beijing’s broader national development aspirations. The PRC’s economic, technological, political, social, and security development efforts are mutually reinforcing and support Beijing’s strategy to shape international and regional environments that accept and facilitate Beijing’s interests.
The PRC’s leaders stress the imperative of strengthening the PLA into a “world-class” military by the end of 2049 as an essential element of its strategy to rejuvenate the PRC into a “great modern socialist country”.
In 2020, the PLA added a new milestone for modernization in 2027, to accelerate the integrated development of mechanization, informatisation, and intelligentisation of the PRC’s armed forces, which if realised would provide Beijing with more credible military options in a Taiwan contingency.