China’s perception of and strategy for the middle powers

Abstract

After the 2008 global financial crisis, Chinese diplomacy became more active and assertive, but it retained abstract and normative characteristics. China’s recent assertive diplomacy, however, is evolving into a new level: China has begun to provide and propose concrete agendas and alternatives. This change is posing a significant and realistic challenge to South Korea’s diplomacy. With China’s unexpectedly rapid rise and the USA implementing a rebalancing strategy in Asia, South Korea has recently had to grapple with the growing possibility of having to choose between the two powers in the midst of competitive and conflictual relations. However, now that China has begun to propose a concrete agenda and alternatives, what has been a possibility for the future is now looming as a reality. For example, China has recently taken aim at the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by pursuing a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). At the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, China stated that "Asian security must be protected by Asian people"; and China is also requesting South Korea’s participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), an initiative where the USA has not been invited.