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On Becoming a Norms Maker: Chinese Foreign Policy, Norms Evolution and the Challenges of Security in Africa*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2015

Chris Alden  and
Daniel Large
Chris Alden*
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science.
Daniel Large
Affiliation:
Central European University. Email: [email protected].
*
Email: [email protected] (corresponding author).
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Abstract

This article explores China's engagement with the development of norms on security in Africa, with particular attention to its changing post-conflict engagement. Applying the gradualism characteristic of its approach to policy formulation and implementation, the Chinese policymaking community is playing a key role in seeking to redefine the contemporary international approach to managing African security dilemmas. By reinterpreting concepts such as liberal peacebuilding, Chinese policymakers have begun a process of reframing established norms on security and development that are more in line with its principles and core interests. This agenda in the making has enabled the Chinese government to move beyond the constraints of a rhetoric rooted in non-interference in domestic affairs that prohibited involvement in African security issues to a set of practices that allows China to play a more substantive role in security on the continent.

摘要

本文旨在探究中国在有关非洲安全事务之规范的发展领域的参与状况, 并特别关注其处于变化之中的对于后冲突阶段的参与模式。基于其在政策制定与执行方面的渐进主义特征, 中国的政策决策团体在重塑当代国际社会管理非洲安全困境之方式的过程中正在发挥十分关键的角色。通过重新解读诸如 “自由和平构建” 等概念, 中国的政策决策者已经开始了一个将国际社会既存的有关安全与发展的规范, 重新塑造成为与其自身原则与核心利益愈相一致的过程。这一正在发展中的议程, 已促使中国政府逐渐超越传统上约束其介入非洲安全事务的 “不干涉内政” 原则的限制, 而慢慢转向一套容许其在非洲大陆安全议题上发挥更为实质性的作用的实践模式。

Keywords

AfricaChinese foreign policysecuritypeacebuildingnorms非洲中国对外政策安全和平建构规范
Type
Articles
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 221 , March 2015 , pp. 123 - 142
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Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2015 

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Footnotes

*

The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr Yixiao Zheng's research assistance with this article.

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