THE QUESTION

Why isn't China more forceful in promoting international security?

Posted by David Ignatius on July 10, 2006 1:13 PM

FROM THE PANEL

Shekhar Gupta is the editor-in-chief of The Indian Express in New Delhi.

China Won't Punch Below Its Class

China probably thinks it is still an intermediate power, but rapidly on its way up. If you start with that presumption, any unqualified participating in efforts to enhance international security, necessarily dominated by the U.S., would amount to punching below what you think should be your weight on international stage.

shekhar gupta India |

4 COMMENTS
Jul 12, 2006 at 6:18 AM

William M. Gumede is Associate Editor at Africa Confidential. He is Research Fellow at the School of Public and Development Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He recently released the bestselling book Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC.

Soft Diplomacy Is More Effective

The use of brute force and might to 'promote' international security by the United States, as the world's only superpower has more often than not, turned the world against it. Surely, the lesson for China from forceful U.S. diplomatic interventions elsewhere must be that 'soft' diplomacy is in our uncertain, dangerous and complex world, a more effective strategy to achieve diplomatic ends.

William M. Gumede South Africa |

0 COMMENTS
Jul 11, 2006 at 9:55 AM

Dr. Ali Ettefagh serves as a director of Highmore Global Corporation, an investment company in emerging markets of Eastern Europe, CIS, and the Middle East. He is the co-author of several books on trade conflict, resolution of international trade disputes, conflicts in letters of credit, trade-related banking transactions, sovereign debt, arbitration and dispute resolutions and publications specific to the oil and gas, communication, aviation and finance sectors. Dr. Ettefagh is a member of the executive committee and the board of directors of The Development Foundation, an advisor to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and an advisor to a number of European companies. Dr. Ettefagh speaks Persian (Farsi), English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and Turkish.

China's "Master Key"

Tehran, Iran -- Ever since the end of the Vietnam War and the Nixon visit, the Chinese regime has adopted a long-term policy of "deal and verify" in all major political developments. China is waiting for a regional deal before taking action on North Korea.

Ali Ettefagh Tehran, Iran |

7 COMMENTS
Jul 11, 2006 at 5:00 AM

Miklós Vámos is a Hungarian novelist, screenwriter and talk show host. He is one of the most read and respected writers in his native Hungary. He has taught at Yale University on a Fulbright fellowship, served as The Nation’s East European correspondent, worked as consultant on the Oscar-winning film Mephisto, and presented Hungary’s most-watched cultural television show. Vámos has received numerous awards for his plays, screenplays, novels and short stories, including the Hungarian Merit Award for lifetime achievement. The Book of Fathers is considered his most accomplished novel and has sold 200,000 copies in Hungary.

Our Missiles, Ourselves

If we try to figure out the motifs and reasons of a man's behavior and decisions, we may be quite successful. The more we know the human being in question, the more precise our findings can be. Super Powers such as China are more difficult to decipher.

Miklos Vamos Budapest, Hungary |

7 COMMENTS
Jul 10, 2006 at 9:43 PM

Nayan Chanda is the Director of Publications and the Editor of YaleGlobal Online Magazine at the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. For nearly thirty years before he joined Yale University, Chanda was with the Hong Kong-based magazine the Far Eastern Economic Review as its editor, editor-at-large and correspondent.

China's Leverage Is an Illusion

Despite constant talk about Chinese leverage over North Korea, the reality may just be the opposite. Given China's huge stake in security along its eastern border and the unpredictability of a nuclear-armed North Korea, the Beijing-Pyongyang relationship appears to be one in which the tail is wagging the dog.

Nayan Chanda New Haven, Conn., United States |

16 COMMENTS
Jul 10, 2006 at 1:26 PM

Mikio Ikuma is the Deputy International Editor of Yomiuiri Shimbun in Japan.

China's Darling Difficult Boy

China is losing nothing by patronizing North Korea. The impoverished regime is not only a diplomatic joker in the deck for China, but also a hidden gold mine that nobody else in the region dares to exploit.

Mikio Ikuma Japan |

12 COMMENTS
Jul 10, 2006 at 9:04 AM

Olivier Roy is a senior researcher at the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research). He currently lectures at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (IEP) in Paris and has acted as consultant to the French Foreign Ministry (Center for Analysis and Forecast) since 1984. Olivier Roy was also a consultant with UNOCA on Afghanistan in 1988, special OSCE representative to Tajikistan (August 1993 to February 1994) and headed the OSCE Mission for Tajikistan from February to October 1994. He is also the author of Globalized Islam, published by Columbia University Press.

China and Global Threats

China is less interested in international security because it feels far less insecure than other countries. It is too big to really suffer from a single nuclear strike coming from a small rogue state; it can bear terrorist actions without a public opinion uproar against the government.

Paris, France |

7 COMMENTS
Jul 10, 2006 at 5:00 AM

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