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2006 GSIA Thesis
Grain Matters:
A Chinese Perspective of Non-
Traditional Security
Yim Ho Ching, David
4173151
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A thesis submitted on 6/11/2006 for the Degree of
Master of Arts (International Relations) in the
Graduate Studies in International Affairs Program,
Department of International Relations, Research
School of Pacific and Asian Studies, AustralianNational University
This thesis is submitted in accordance with the
rules and guidelines set out in the 2006 GSIA
Program Information Handbook. This thesis
has not been submitted in full or in part for
assessment for any other course or program. I
have read the guidelines on plagiarism and in
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accordance with these all sources are fully,
properly and accurately acknowledged.
Signature
Date
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Contents
Introduction P. 5
Chapter One:
Evolving Theories of Security
and the relevance to China P. 14
Chapter Two:
Understanding Food Security in China:
From Self- Reliance to Interdependence P. 26
Chapter Three:
Understanding Food Security in China:
Changing identities and Great Power Responsibility P. 40
Conclusions P. 53
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Endnotes P. 56
Bibliography P. 67
Abstract
In recent years, and a series of international non- traditional security crises has
serious debate amongst scholars of international relations over the changing nature of
security threats. The concept of non- traditional security has attracted significant
attentions. However, most of the existing studies have neglected the issue of food
security. Moreover, the voice of the developing world is often silent. This thesis aims
to address the gap in the literature. It does so by studying the evolution of the Chinese
concept of non- traditional security, with a particular focus on the issue of food
security and the influence of external force on this issue.
I take a constructivist approaches that allows me to work at the nexus of domestic
and international levels of analysis. The history of the Peoples Republic China is
reviewed through the lens of food security to provide insights into the mindset of the
Chinese leaders during the Mao and Deng era. Contemporary Chinese foreign policy
behaviours are also reviewed to understand the changes in Chinese concept of non-
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traditional security.
The central argument of this thesis is that improvements in domestic and
international security environments lead to changes in Chinese national identity from
victim to responsible major power, which is reflected in the increase participation in
international cooperation related food security.
Grain Matters: A Chinese Perspective on Non-
Traditional Security
Security is the first word which occurs to me if I look back on my youth
security not only in family relations, but in a sense scarcely imaginable
since 1914.--- E. H. Carr1.
Today, I am deeply sorry to report that the situation remains intolerable and
unacceptable all the more so because ten years have passed. Business as
usual will not do Failure to achieve the World Food Summit objective
would be shameful.2--- FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, at a press
conference ofThe State of Food Insecurity in the World 2006, 30 October
2006.
Introduction
Since the end of Cold War, the issue of redefining security has been intensely
debated among academics, policy- makers, and civil society actors alike. In calling for
a reformulation of the traditional notion of security focused on military forces, a
number of scholars have argued for a broadening of the concept to include a range of
traditional and non- traditional threats. Moreover, for many, the state is no longer the
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sole referent of security, individuals also deserve attention. The debate between
respective advocates of state- centric and human- centric security now resonates
within the realm of everyday international politics.
One of the major problems involved in taking a non- traditional perspective on
security is that the analyst is faced with the difficulty of prioritising one issue over
another. This thesis will focus on only one aspect of the non- traditional security
agenda, namely food security. While acknowledging the importance of other aspects
of non- traditional security, such as economic security, public health security and
energy security, I have chosen to focus on food because this tends to be overlooked by
security analysts and scholars of international relations (IR).
In the discipline of international relations, food security has not received as much
attention as other issues on the non- traditional security agenda, such as resource
security and public health security. Food security seems to be regarded as a problem
for the developing world only. However, global demographic change and
environmental degradation mean that the issue cannot simply be viewed along a non-
traditional faultline. Food security is also likely to demand more rather than less of
our attention in the future.
The non- traditional security agenda is not without its critics. Some scholars remain
committed to the traditional approach to security. They argue that the focus of studies
on security should not be changed, in order to preserve the clarity and validity of
security studies3. Other critics argue against the securitization of human development
because it obscures the relationship between conflict and underdevelopment4. A third
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group claim that the new security agenda is ethnocentric, given that the prevailing
non- traditional security agenda originated largely from the West5. Where are the
voices of the developing states? It is this third critique of the non- traditional security
agenda that has motivated the concerns behind this thesis.
Of course it is not simply the case that the voices of developing states have not been
heard in this debate, rather it is the case that alternative approaches to security are
being interpreted differently, and less attention is being given to those diverse
interpretations.
In the Asia- Pacific region, some Asian academics claim that the search for
alternative approaches to security began long before the end of Cold War6. They argue
that such deviation from the traditional concept of security arose from the need to
struggle simultaneously with a multitude of security problems divided between
domestic and international arenas. For many developing states in the region, their
successive governments have been bedevilled with internal strife that has threatened
the structural integrity of the state since its inception. In Malaysia and Indonesia, for
example, the concept of security has been expanded to include regional stability and
regime survival7. Several Asian developing states have also developed their own
version of comprehensive security promoted by the Japanese in the 1980s as a way
of focusing attention on economic concerns such as the international supply of energy
and food8.
These non- Western approaches to non- traditional security remain essentially
statist and tend to differ from the human security approach that is becoming
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increasing popular at the international level. Moreover, military defence remains a
core component of comprehensive security. While the Asian approaches outlined
above attempt to broaden the traditional approach to security horizontally, the human
security approach seeks to expand the understanding of security vertically. Human
security calls for freedom from fear and freedom from want, focusing on both the
rights of individuals and communities9. Only Japan has developed its non- traditional
security approach further by developing an indigenous version of the human security
agenda10. It is the contention of this thesis that the way in which the idea of security is
evolving amongst the developing states of the Asia- Pacific is worthy of greater
scholarly attention. In particular, as China re- emerges as a major world power, it is
imperative that we gain a deeper understanding of the way in which the Chinese
government interprets the non- traditional security agenda, in order to gain insights
into its foreign policy.
The recent debate between respective advocates of state- centric and human-
centric security has aroused tremendous interest inside China, as numerous study both
Chinese and foreign in origin, laying out pessimistic claims and severe warnings
about the shortcomings in Chinas capacity to secure its populations need, especially
in the realm of food security due to serious environmental degradation and the
continuing increase in population11
. These trends are unlikely to subside in the near
future, hence Chinese non- traditional security concerns are likely to directly affect its
behaviour at the international level12.
Central Research Questions:
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Security related studies about the rise of China have proliferated in recent years in
keeping with the considerable influences that China now enjoys in the international
arena, thanks to over twenty- five years of economic growth. Many of these studies
have focused attention on non- traditional security issues. A prime example is the
upsurge of interest in the issue of resource security, especially in relation to oil supply
and certain metal ores13. Moreover, public health concerns such as the 2003 SARS
epidemic and subsequent Avian Flu epidemic have caught the attention of security
analysts14. However, international studies that seek to explore non- traditional security
from a Chinese perspective are rare and narrow in scope at best. The limited studies
that are available are more concerned with domestic affairs and are largely technical
in nature, very little attention has been given by IR scholars.
This thesis aims to address this gap in the literature. In doing so it seeks to address
two central questions.
How has the Chinese concept of food security evolved over time?
And to what extent has it been influenced by external forces?
I propose the aforementioned research questions in order to investigate in- depth the
Chinese idea of food security and how it has been shaped by both domestic and
international influences. In doing so, this thesis shall offer insights into the likely
implications to Chinese foreign policy behaviour.
Methodology:
Given that the research questions require an investigation into the effect and
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influences of ideational factors, upon the perceptions of Chinese elites, I shall draw
upon the constructivist approach to the study of international relations. In particular,
such an approach allows me to gain deeper insights into the formulation of the idea of
food security by looking at the way in which identity affects interests and behaviour.
Moreover, the constructivist approach allows me to work at the nexus of domestic and
international levels of analysis15.
At the same time, it is also important to return to history, as no comprehensive
understanding of the Chinese conception of non- traditional security can be obtained
without an acknowledgement of the way in which history has subtlely shaped the
Chinese elites perceptions of security. In this thesis, I confine myself to the fifty- odd
years of the history of the PRC. From the viewpoint of non- traditional security, this
can be divided into three phases. The first phase is the Mao era (1949- 1976), early
years of the new communist regimes which includes the turbulent years of the Great
Leap Forward and the Great Cultural Revolution. The second phase is the Deng era
(1977- 1990s), the years of opening and reform, which triggered great changes in the
perception of security among Chinese elites. The last phase is the contemporary era, a
period in which non- traditional security issues such as the 2003 SARS epidemic have
taken a central position on the non- traditional security agenda and in which China is
becoming a more active participant in international cooperation.
From a domestic perspective, reviewing this history, attention will be given to the
dramatic and sometimes catastrophic events that have shaped Chinese conceptions of
food security over time. Furthermore, the effect of external events such as the Cold
War will also be taken into consideration. From an international perspective, I shall
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focus in particular on the concept of identity in seeking to arrive at some conclusions
about Chinas current foreign policy behaviour.
Why is the concept of national identity important in the thesis? Alastair Iain
Johnston suggests that national identities both constitute and are constituted by
normative structures at the international level, hence international normative
structures can affect actor behaviour in two ways: (i) internalization of norms that
influence on actors self- identification via dialogue and persuasion; (ii) actors that
have internalized a particular norm will constrain the behaviour of actors have not
accomplished internalization16. Hence, the concept of national identity allows us to
understand the effects of external influences on the evolution of the Chinese
understanding of food security.
Moreover, Johnston suggests that the foreign policy of a state is critical to the
construction of a national identity. Hence, changes in foreign policy reflected changes
in a states self- identification17. Furthermore, the changes in national identity
influence the perception towards responsibility at international level. In effect,
studying of changes in Chinese foreign policy related to food security enables us to
observe the changes and continuities in Chinas self- identification.
Primary sources, especially Chinese sources, will feature prominently in this thesis
in the form of media reports and the speeches of the ruling elites, from which the
analysis of the Chinese understanding of non- traditional security will be derived. I
shall also draw upon secondary sources, especially Chinese research works which are
seldom published in English, as well as investigative journalist reports in order to
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produce a wide and comprehensive picture.
Significance of this Study:
This study aims to mitigate the lack of literature in this area. Most of the existing
literature on resource or non- traditional security has failed to provide sufficient
coverage of China. The issue of resource security in China is being intensely studied,
but most of the literature concerns energy security only. It seems that food security, a
very significant and integral part of the concept of non- traditional security, is not
considered to be a significant issue in IR, amongst scholars of IR, as contrasted with
environmental science and development studies. This thesis suggests otherwise.
Despite the magnificent growth of PRC in the past twenty- five years, a large portion
of Chinas population remain relatively underdeveloped in terms of access to food.
This thesis reveals that food security is not a new issue to China, rather it has long
considered to be an key and integral part of the Chinese elites understanding of
security. It also demonstrates that Chinas increasing engagement in food security at
the international level has been largely influenced by changes in its identity. This has
broader implications on how we understand Chinese foreign policy behaviour.
The rise of the PRC means that it is imperative for IR scholars to study the way that
the current ruling regime perceives the non- traditional security agenda. As the PRC
continues to rise in power and tackle the undesirable side effects of its rapid
development, the issue of non- traditional security is likely to assume increased
significance not only in the domestic realm but also in the arena of foreign relations of
PRC18.
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Structure of the Thesis:
The thesis is divided into three chapters. Chapter one reviews the ongoing debate
over what constitutes security with a particular focus on the non- traditional security
agenda and its relevance to China. In chapter two, attention shifts to the domestic
level, reviewing the history of the PRCs perception of security among the Chinese
elites, with a specific focus to food security. The particular events that shaped ideas
about food security will be discussed. Ideational differences between different leaders
will also be examined too. The third chapter returns the focus back to the international
realm. With the international community gradually adopting the non- traditional
security agenda, how is the Chinese government responding? I shall conclude the
thesis by assessing the shifts in foreign policy behaviour on the basis of two
explanations. The first explanation focuses on the significance of identity change, and
the second focuses on the importance of responsibility.
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Chapter One:
Evolving Theories of Security and the relevance to China
The question of What is Security? has bedevilled and intrigued scholars of
International relations (IR) and its sub- field, Security Studies (SS) since the inception
of the discipline after the First World War. In retrospect, it can be claimed that the
original purpose behind the founding of the discipline was to understand the causes of
war in order to avoid another disastrous conflict in the future19. Academics have
proposed numerous contending definitions and theories of security which, in turn,
have had serious policy implications at the international level.
This chapter reviews the ongoing debate over what constitutes security. How did this
debate emerge? What are the underlying theoretical foundations? And how are current
conceptions relevant to the developing states of Asia?
While most scholars agree that security is a sharply contested concept20, it is
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possible to identify the common structure and terms of the security discourse. All
theories of security tend to consist of three defining elements: the referent of security
(Who needs to be secured?), the scope of security (What needs to be secured?) and the
approach of security (How to secure?). Most arguments between supporters of
contending theories of security revolve around these three elements21. While it is
possible to outline a definition with reference to specific threats, such as terrorist
attacks and derives a theory of security from it, such a theory would be too narrow in
scope to guide domestic and international policy making. Instead, security analysts
have focused their attention on trying to understand the broader structure of power
within the international system.
The Traditional Approach to Security:
A prominent researcher of security, John Herz, has defined the realist concept of
security as,
... the self- help attempts of states to look after their security needs, tend,
regardless of intention to lead to rising insecurity for others as each interprets
its own measures as defensive and the measures of others as potentially
threatening22.
During the Cold War, the dominant concept of security centred on the sovereign
state. The logical approach to security was that of self- help as the referents could not
rely on each other for assistance to achieve security.
At the time, IR scholars also placed a strong emphasis upon security in a strictly
military sense. Academic interests were largely focused on issues of high politics: War
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and peace, nuclear deterrence, arms control and alliance politics23. Poverty, food
supply and environmental degradation were relegated to the field of Development
Studies and considered to be domestic issues that had little significance to the study of
international relations. Development aid merely produced political levers to expand
and maintain the bloc system by both America and the Soviet Union24.
This concept of security can be attributed to the dominance of the realist school of
international relations during the Cold War. Since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648,
sovereign states have been considered as the most important component in the
contemporary international system. Both classical political scholars such as
Machiavelli and contemporary realist scholars such as Hans Morgenthau and Kenenth
Waltz view national security as the highest priority of all sovereign states25. An
emphasis on national security was further reinforced by the power- centric discourse
of classical realism and neo- realism.
In contemporary international politics, the system of states is considered as
anarchical in nature because there is no common government that can act as a
central controlling authority in world politics26. The anarchical system of states is
accepted as the foundation of the realist school27. Realists consider cooperation
between states to be largely short- term and unstable because they assume that states
are concerned about relative gains.
In the words of Waltz,
A state worries about a division of possible gains that may favour others more
than itself. This is the first way in which the structure of international politics
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limits the cooperation of states.28
Realists argue that states are predominantly concerned about their own security in
this self- help, anarchical system of states and that this concern govern the behaviour
of states, in spite of their different internal political structures. They point out that in
order to promote their respective self- interests they need to secure themselves against
other states, by enhancing their relative power29.
As the relentless pursuit of self- interest and security is inherent in the anarchical
structure of international politics, realists argue that the possibility of conflict between
states is ever- present as the possibility of a state being coerced or even attacked by
other states could never be eliminated, all states have to prepare themselves for a
struggle for existence, by countering military force with military force 30.
Therefore, realists claim that the primary goal of sovereign states in the
international system is to secure survival through attempts to maximize the power of
the state, so that relations between states can be conducted according to the
distribution of power between them.
The Non- Traditional Approach to Security:
In the 1990s, the end of Cold War triggered a challenge to the traditional approach
to security. Critics argued that the traditionalist, realist approach to world politics,
with its focus on military power and interstate conflict, was too narrow to deal with
new security threats, even though these threats do affect the survival and relative
power of states. Epidemics, environmental pollution and terrorism, are just some of
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the emerging threats that force states to cooperate more because no single states can
deal with these threats alone.
A number of contemporary IR scholars argued for the expanded conception of
security outward from the limits of national security, leading to the rise of the non-
traditional security agenda. Barry Buzan, a proponent of the new agenda, argues that
security should be considered from a multi- dimensional perspective. In is words,
security is:
primarily about the fate of human collectivities about the pursuit of
freedom from threat. The bottom line is about survival, but it also includes a
substantial range of concerns about the conditions of existence Security is
affected by factors in five major sectors: military, political, economic, societal
and environmental31.
However, it should be duly noted here that the expanded notion of security adopted
in the non- traditional security approach does not necessarily reject the state- centric
basic of traditional security concerns.
Rather it is those IR scholars concerned about the globalization of security
threats that quash the continuing relevance of the state. They argue that the organized
use of force in pursuit of national interests by sovereign states will cease to be the
major security threat to both states and individuals during the post- Cold War era.
Instead, in their view, threats associated with transnational or even global effects are
likely to rise to prominence.
The introduction of another new concept, Human Security, which first
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appeared in the 1994 Human Development Reportpublished by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), muddles the water further32. This identifies the
people as the key referent of security, thus human security is about securing basic
physical, economic and social needs for individuals and communities:
The concept of security has for too long been interpreted narrowly Forgotten
were the legitimate concerns of ordinary people who sought security in their
daily lives. For many of them, security symbolizes the protection from the threat
of disease, hunger, unemployment, crime, social conflict, political repression and
environmental hazards33.
The human security agenda has been defined as having four essential
characteristics: (i) It is a universal concern; (ii) the components are interdependent;
(iii) it is best ensured through early prevention than later intervention; (iv) it is people-
centred34.
Advocates of the human- centric security perspective argue that despite the
decrease in the chance of a catastrophic nuclear exchange, numerous nuclear weapons
are still scattered around the globe, increasing the chances of their use at the regional
or local levels. Furthermore, the threat to humanitys survival has not abated and the
global population is bedevilled with insecurity, as illustrated in the spread of internal
violence, the increase in economic disparities between the developed and developing
world, and the gradual depletion of natural resources35. Therefore, a new
understanding of security is required in order to formulate a proper and coherent
response to the new global threats, which threaten the survival of individuals more
than the survival of sovereign states.
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Numerous empirical studies have investigated the validity of human- centric
approaches to security. For example, Thomas Homer- Dixon has argued that
environmental scarcities are already contributing to violent conflicts in many parts
of the developing world and that the situation is likely to escalate as scarcities
increases. As the population continues to increase in the developing world, the
demand for natural resources and food is likely to overwhelm the available supply,
leading to the unequal social distribution of resources, thus further aggravating the
problem. A vicious cycle of poverty could lead to further scarcity, inhibiting self-
empowerment36.
It is possible to improve the situation via social and technological ingenuity, but
these measures usually require substantial financial aid. This research provides ample
empirical evidence to suggest a causal link between scarcities and physical insecurity.
In scenarios of environmental scarcities, access to food is one of the greatest threats to
human security.
It can be readily observed that secure access to food is a key and integral part of the
concept of human security which, in turn, links to the concept of environmental
security, as food production depends on optimal environmental conditions. However,
the concept of food security was not formerly defined until the 1996 World Food
Summit:
Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and
economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary
needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life37.
In the human security agenda, food security is more than just the elimination of
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hunger among individuals and communities. It acts as the basis of achieving the
ultimate goal of the agenda, which is human survival, well- being and freedom 38. In
the 2005 State of Food Insecurity in the Worldreport, the relationship between food
security and overall human development, in terms of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) has been positively defined:
without rapid progress in reducing hunger, achieving all of the other
MDGs will be difficult, if not Impossible hunger and malnutrition are
major causes of the deprivation and suffering targeted by all of the other
MDGs39
.
Therefore, it is not too much of an exaggeration to say food security is one of the
most important non- traditional security issues.
As noted in the introduction to this thesis, the non- traditional security agenda is
not without its critics. Traditionalists and realists argue that studies on security should
remain confined to the relationships and capabilities of sovereign states, because
states continue to be the dominant actor in the military realm at both the domestic and
international levels. Also, the introduction of non- traditional factors such as food
insecurity, diseases, and financial instability has been criticized as being too board in
its scope with too much definitional elasticity, thus generating difficulties in the
prioritization of the different goals and principles for policy-making and analysis40.
Some critics argue against the securitization of development and poverty reduction.
Mark Duffield, for example, argues that underdevelopment becomes a synonym with
poverty and conflicts under the new agendas of non- traditional and human security.
As liberal peace become the primary rhetoric for promoting developmentalism, the
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discourse of development is reinvented as a form of conflict prevention in a process of
radicalisation41. Other critics argue that the new security agenda is ethnocentric in
nature and because it has neglected the opinion of the developing world?
How does the developing world, especially the PRC, perceive the new security
agenda? How relevant are the studies outlined above to the situation in developing
states?
Unfortunately, addressing this question in a systematic manner is beyond the scope
of this thesis. We shall narrow our focus here to the developing states in Asia. As
noted in the introduction, both Malaysia and Indonesia, have attempted to expand the
traditional security agenda long before the end of Cold War. Most of the changes have
involved the identification of new threats to state sovereignty and integrity, in addition
to the recognition of the importance of resource and economic stability. A key feature
observed in all these attempts is the concern of domestic unrests.
Both these states have experienced domestic unrest arisen from external influences,
such as the communist insurgency in the Cold War and religious extremism today. At
the same time, these states are multi- ethnic and multi- religious in nature, adding
domestic factors such as racial inequality which complicate the problem of internal
strife even more.
The 1997 Malaysian defence policy paperMalaysian Defenceprovided an example
of how the developing states in Asia perceive the non- traditional security agenda.
Four main security concerns are identified, these include: (1) Overlapping claims and
territorial disputes; (2) Pollution and congestion in the Straits of Malacca; (3) Piracy;
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(4) Illegal Immigrants42.
It can be readily observed that the Malaysian government considers that have
values under threat include national sovereignty, economic wellbeing via trade and
domestic racial balance. Most of the threats are non-military and external in nature,
apart from the issue of territorial disputes. However, the concerns outlined above
indicate that the Malaysian government is aware of the potential security threats from
other ASEAN members, even though the government has downplayed this issue in its
foreign policy. It seems that the government is very concerned about the spill-over
effects of instability and poor governance in neighbouring states, a worry well-
justified as demonstrated by the internal racial strife and subsequent regime change in
Indonesia in 1998.
Following this line of argument, Malaysia has always been highly interested in
regionalism in order to secure its volatile neighbours and to counter the threats
outlined above. It is one of the founding members of ASEAN in 1967 and a stanch
supporters of other regional approaches such as Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation
(APEC), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and ASEAN plus Three43.
The Malaysia example allows me to gain an insight into the evolution of the non-
traditional security agenda from the perspective of the developing states in the Asia-
Pacific region. Does this model match the Chinese perspective of non- traditional
security?
Over the past decade, the Chinese concept of Security has evolved in line with
Chinas growing interdependence with the outside world. The Chinese government
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put forward the New Security Concept (NSC) that focused on regional and global
cooperation on security issues in 1997. The major points of the NSC are as follows:
Cooperation should be based upon mutual trust.
Cooperation should be assured by mutual benefits. All countries should meet
the objective needs of social development in the era of globalization, respect
each others security interests, and create conditions for others security while
ensuring their own security interests with a view to achieving common security.
Cooperation should be approached through dialogues and coordination on an
equal footing44.
Chinese scholars argue that the NSC is distinguished from earlier Chinese
understandings of security, as it is more comprehensive in nature. The NSC advocated
peaceful co- existence and cooperation between neighbouring states to improve
political and economic relations, as a means to secure regional and international
stability for economic development45. However, the NSC was not designed for non-
traditional security issues.
The formal introduction and adoption of the concept of non- traditional security in
the PRC is fairly recent. It was officially adopted in 2003 at the 16th Chinese
Communist Party Congress
46
. The official Chinese definition of non- traditional
security claims that:
non- traditional security issues, which is termed in contrast to traditional
security threats, refers to the factors other than military, political and
diplomatic conflicts but can pose threats to the survival and development of a
sovereign state and human[sic] as a whole47.
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It should be noted here that the official Chinese definition differs from that of other
developing states in the region, as it is broader in scope and not entirely statist in
nature. The Chinese definition does not entirely match the UNDP understanding of
non- traditional security either, which is based on the human security perspective that
stresses the importance of human development, proper governance and global
diplomatic cooperation, as listed in the United Nations Millennium Declaration48.
Many scholar argued that the Chinese conception of non- traditional security remains
largely statist and that the human dimension is missing due to Chinese sensitivity on
the issues of sovereignty and human rights49. It would also be possible to interpret the
Chinese understanding of non- traditional security is occupying a middle position
between the statist concept of comprehensive security and the UN understanding of
human security.
I argue in this thesis, however, that non- traditional security issues have long been
perceived as an integral part of Chinas national security. In particular, food security, a
key and integral part of the non- traditional security concept, has received serious
attention from the Chinese government. This contrasts with the relative lack of
attention given to food security at the international level until the end of Cold War.
How does the Chinese idea non- traditional security, in particular food security,
evolved over time? In order to gain a deeper understanding of the domestic and
international forces at work in shaping the Chinese perception, we need to review the
fifty- odds years of the history of the PRC.
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Chapter Two:
Understanding Food Security in China:
From Self- Reliance to Interdependence
Our policy is to take agriculture as the foundation and industry as the
leading factor. Pursuant to this policy, when we map out a plan we first see
what quantity of food grains can be produced, then estimate how much
fertilizer, pesticides, machinery, iron and steel, and so on are needed.
--- Mao Tse Tung, 195850.
Let us now turn to the history of the idea of food security in China in order to obtain
a deeper perspective. In order to understand how the communist ruling elites
understand the concept of non- traditional security, we need to return to history to
look at how the rules, norms and institutional changes have shaped ideas about
security through out the fifty- seven years of communist party rule51. This chapter will
focus particularly on the issue of food security and it is divided into three parts. The
first part briefly reviews the situation of food security in China since ancient times.
Then, the second section focuses on the Mao era, a period of time that has been
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symbolised by mass mobilization and great political upheaval. The Deng era is
studied in the third section, as the time under his leadership proved to be the
fundamental transition point for Chinas economic development with important
implications for food security. The post- Deng period will be covered in the final
chapter of this thesis that discusses a broader international perspective.
(i) The Early Years:
Since the beginning of Chinese civilization, various governments have been
concerned with securing food supply for the huge population based upon the limited
availability of arable land. Such ancient concerns over food supply have, in turn, led
to an interest in securing the best environmental conditions for agriculture via manual
intervention. Massive irrigation, the cultivation of wastelands, and flood controls
projects became symbols of Chinese civilization52.
However, the tremendous efforts spent on agriculture were often wasted or negated
due to the unrelenting growth of the population. It is frequently the case that as human
populations increase in size they overwhelm the limit of the carrying capacity of the
local environment53. Simply put, the increase in population tends to outstrip the
increase in available arable land. Despite improvements in technology and
government planned internal migrations to unsettled areas, Chinese people still had to
contend with unfavourable weather patterns and natural disasters. Even in the early
20th century, before the food crisis brought on by the Great Leap Forward, Chinese
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peasants experienced frequent famines, which then lead to massive migration in
search of food54.
The need for more arable land led to environmental degradation in the process of
exploiting the natural environment, which created a vicious cycle of degradation and
decrease in the availability of arable land: Arable land created through slash and
burn method, massive deforestation for fuel and building material, and population
growth led to a rapid reduction of the carrying capacity of the environment55. Food
security has frequently been compromised in the history of China.
(ii) The Mao Era (1949- 1976)
After the founding of the People's Republic, the feudal ownership of land
was abolished. Under the leadership of their government, the Chinese
people devoted themselves to developing grain production through self-
reliance and hard work. As a result, China is now able to feed 22 percent of
the world's population on about seven percent of the world's cultivated land.Total grain output in 1995 more than quadrupled the 1949 figure, or an
average increase of 3.1 percent a year China's significant achievements in
developing grain production have not only basically eradicated the problem
of people not having enough to eat and wear and gradually raised the living
standards of the Chinese people, but also made great contributions to the
worldwide efforts to eliminate starvation and poverty.56--- The Grain Issue
in China, 1996 Chinese Government White Paper.
The passage quoted above seems to indicate that all has gone well since the China
Communist party took over the country in 1949. However, this official standpoint
neglected the human, social and ecological costs paid by the Chinese population along
with the repercussions that linger today, in the process of rapid modernization and
industrialization of the PRC. Most of the great upheaval and losses happened during
the Mao era, a period of time symbolized by mass movements, massive death due to
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famine, and the large scale degradation of the environment. Why did the ruling elites
adopt such disastrous policies despite its intention to modernize the state and lift the
Chinese people out of poverty? In order to fully understand the evolving concept of
food security during this era, we need to review both the international and domestic
considerations of the PRC, with special reference to Mao during the Cold War.
As noted in the introduction, Johnston suggests that one of the international norms
that affected Chinas international behaviour is the norm of national sovereignty 57.
The concept of sovereignty has been deeply internalized as the sole legitimate way of
political and territorial division in the international system. The PRC has adopted a
particularly absolute form of the concept of sovereignty which affects both its self-
identification and foreign policy strongly. One of the reasons behind such a strong
internalization of the sovereignty norm is that China has suffered much since the
Opium War initiated by the British Empire in 1840 which triggered the subsequent
humiliations in the hands of Western powers in the ensuing century. Successive
leaders and intellectuals aim to restore China to its former glories, including the
communists. Collective memories of China being humiliated by Imperial powers has
imprinted both a deep fear of further loss of Chinas integrity and a dream of returning
China back to its proper place in the sun in the minds of the founding members of
the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PRC was engaged in conflict with the
Western bloc almost as soon as the Communists took over the country, symbolized by
the Korean War. Later on, the PRC also clashed with the Soviets, leading to a serious
security threat to both its land and maritime borders58.
Facing such an adverse international security situation, early party leaders
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recognized that merely revolutionizing China was not enough to avoid future foreign
encroachment of sovereignty, China needed to be modernized on a par with the great
powers. In order to accomplish the aforementioned goal, the CCP leaders decided that
the PRC should develop according to the principle of self reliance, while exploiting
the contradictions between imperialist states to promote the revolutionary enterprise.
The PRC should therefore abandon its dependency on foreign resources- material,
intellectual and spiritual- in order to achieve true independence59. The adoption of the
principle of self reliance reflected the impact that the norm of sovereignty had on
Chinas behaviour at both domestic and international levels.
The aforementioned approach and policy decisions to security in the early years of
the PRC illustrated how the history of contemporary China and the power structure of
the Cold War constructed a victim identity in the self- perception of the Chinese
leaders, thus leading to the conscious decision to prioritize industry development,
especially heavy industry.
However, this did not mean that the CCP failed to understand the importance of
food production and agriculture in a nation that experienced frequent and serious
famines. The CCP differs and deviates much from the orthodox Marxism- Leninism.
The prominent example is the attitudes towards the revolutionary potential of the rural
population. The CCP established itself and won over the nationalist government
largely relying on the support from the Chinese peasants by promising land reforms60.
Therefore, the CCP had a reasonably good understanding of the importance of
securing food supply, as reflected by the following statement from Mao in 1957:
We should strive for a good harvest this year. A good harvest this year will
give people a sense of security and significantly consolidate the co-operatives.
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The whole Party should attach great importance to agriculture. Agriculture has
vital bearing on the nation's economy and the people's livelihood. Take heed, for
it is very dangerous not to grasp grain production. If this is ignored, there will be
widespread disorder some day... If agriculture is in good shape and the peasants
are self-supporting, then 500 million people will feel secure61.
In the quoted speech, Mao demonstrated a clear understanding of the connection
between security and food supply, however, such an understanding differed from the
modern usage of food security as discussed in the previous chapter.
For Mao and other CCP leaders, agriculture was seen as a strategic sector that
provided capital for further industrialization and they perceived the issue of food
security as a matter of national security on a statist basis. In the same speech that Mao
proclaimed the importance of securing food for the population, he then went on to
elucidate his understanding between agriculture and modern industry known:
Agriculture is the chief source of raw materials for light industry, for which
the countryside provides an important market. Only when agriculture is
developed can light industry get enough raw materials and find a vast market for
its goods. Here again the countryside is an important market for heavy
industry chemical fertilizer, farm machinery of all kinds and part of our
electric power, coal and petroleum are all supplied to the rural areas, and the
railways, the highways and the large water conservancy projects all serve
agriculture Now that we have built up a socialist agricultural economy, the
countryside is becoming an immense market for our growing heavy and light
industries.62.
Such a approach to food security can be attributed back to the aforementioned self-
perception as victim by the CCP leaders. Food security was subsumed under the
broader issue of national security which maintained the focus on the military arena.
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In practice, the aim of building a prosperous and economically independent PRC
was a highly daunting task because the existing base of modern industry in the early
years of the PRC was insignificant. The modern industrial sector of the Chinese
economy was less than half the size of the Tsarist Russian Empire, even at the peak
pre- 1949 levels. After years of civil conflicts and eight years of Sino- Japanese war,
the industrial sector of China was devastated. The agriculture output in PRC in 1952
was only about twenty percent of the historical result attained by the Soviets twenty-
five years earlier63. As the modernization and industrialization of the PRC required
enormous input of capital, the CCP leaders decided to sacrifice the development of
agriculture.
In order to extract the most from the agriculture sector, the state implemented
agricultural collectivization and enforced low prices for agricultural products. These
two measures ensured centralized state control of essential food supplies, which could
then be redirected to the urban areas for the purpose of industrialization. A large
proportion of the costs of heavy- industry development were transferred via such a
mechanism to traditional economic sectors64. The centralized planned economic
system may well have been inefficient and heavily privileged the urban population,
but food security for both urban and rural populations was realized, due to the planned
resource- allocation system and improved motivation for the Chinese peasants. The
growth of Chinese industry outpaced even the most ambitious government planning.
Between 1952 and 1957, China achieved sixteen percent growth per annum. Even the
heavily extracted agriculture sector managed to achieve an annual growth rate of
nearly three percent for staple grains, keeping up with the population growth rate65.
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However, the remarkable growth achieved by the PRC in its early years was
completely overshadowed during the subsequent disastrous years from 1958- 1977. A
series of ill- considered and primarily ideologically driven policy decisions seriously
compromised food security during the ensuing two decades. As Mao Zedong was the
major guiding force behind the PRCs domestic policies, understanding of his
thoughts is essential in interpreting the PRCs approach to security during this chaotic
era.
In 1958, Mao initiated the Great Leap Forward at the Hankow conference with a
speech that foreshadowed the serious assault on food security from 1959 to 1961. He
proclaimed that:
The Monkey King disregarded the laws and the heavens. Why dont we all
emulate him? His anti-dogmatism was demonstrated in his courage to do
whatever he wanted66.
Per capita availability of food energy decreased by thirty percent during those three
years. Western estimates of excess deaths due to famine and other famine- related
mortality range from 16.5 million to about 30 million while official mortalities
claimed 15 million deaths67.
How can the ruling elites, most of them coming from rural backgrounds have made
such insensible decisions? To address this question, we need to take into consideration
both ideological concerns and the broader international security environment.
At the domestic level, serious ideological concerns over the consequence of
modernization and industrialization outweighed prudent economic consideration. Mao
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considered the communist revolution to be under threat as the process of
modernization created a class of bureaucracy and the CCP itself was transformed
into a giant bureaucratic organization. The revolutionary spirit was eroded as the CCP
and the Chinese government were filled up with new cadres that embraced the
values associated with modernization68. This is the ideological background that
prompted Mao to unleash the Great Leap Forward campaign in order to ensure the
ideological purity of the CCP and safeguard the fruits of the communist revolution69.
The decision to sacrifice agriculture in the interests of rapid industrialization can
also be attributed to the adoption of the self- reliance approach to secure the new
China in the hostile environment of the Cold War. In the late 1950s, this was further
reinforced by the gradually deteriorating relationship with the Soviet Union.
Before 1955, no signs of readjustment of the Sino- Soviet relationship could be
observed. However, success in economic development in the mid- 1950s led to
smugness and self- confidence in Chinas capability, providing a boost of self-
reliance nationalism. Reconsideration of the applicability of the Soviet experience
began. Furthermore, Khrushchevs de- Stalinization also increased Maos self-
confidence. Suggestion of further military cooperation offended the Chinese
sensitivities and provided fuel for Maos suspicions of Soviet attempts to control the
development of China, just like the imperialist. Mao declared attenuation of Sino-
Soviet relations was needed to preserve Chinas sovereignty70. The anti- Soviet
polemics of the early 1960s marked the end of the special relationship by
transforming the USSR from friend to foe--- a Social Imperialist 71. In short, the
Great Leap Forward can be explained on the basis of a mix of domestic and
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international factors. In order to protect its sovereignty, China strove to modernize
overnight.
It can be argued, that the deteriorating security environment that China experienced
during the 1950s and 1960s, in addition to domestic political and ideological
concerns, reinforced the self- perception of China as a victim of foreign power,
which in turn prompted the acceleration in modernization and industrialization,
leading to the Great Leap Forward. Mao once claimed that:
[T] he world situation will have greatly changed by the end of the
century In our country, on the average, everybody will have 100 tons of
steel and 2000 to 3000 catties of grain and feed, and the majority of people
will have a college education72.
It can be argued that the early leaders of the PRC did possess a concept of food
security, albeit one that was embedded in a traditional, statist understanding of
security. The combined influences of the Cold War structure of power and the
collective Chinese memory of humiliation at the hands of foreign powers led to the
adoption of a particular conception of national security, that was arguably broader
than the traditional approach to security that existed at the international level.
(iii) Deng Era (1978- 1990s)
With his immortal words, Get rich is glorious., Deng Xiaoping is credited for his
brave abandonment of Maoist economic policies which triggered the transformation
of the PRC from an obsolete communist power to todays market- driven, export-
oriented economy73.
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However, the core of Dengs economic reform is not the often praised liberalization
of economic policies, it is the abandonment of the prioritization of industrial
development and agricultural collectivization, with a continuing interest in ensuring
food security, thus it should be noted that the importance of the Deng era lies not only
in the realm of the economy, but also is the beginning of a new understanding of
security in the minds of PRC leaders. It serves as an importance period of transition
between PRCs early communist years and the market- driven society that we see
today
Deng took great strides in promoting an ideological shift away from Maoism that
was highly contested between PRC leaders, as not all of the post- Mao leaders agreed
to such radical changes. In his 1977 famous article, The Two Whatevers do not
accord with Marxism, Deng proclaimed an official ideological shift from Maoism:
We cannot mechanically apply what Comrade Mao Zedong said about a
particular question to another question, what he said in a particular place to
another place, what he said at a particular time to another time, or what he
said under particular circumstances to other circumstances. Comrade Mao
Zedong said that he too had made mistakes and that there had never been a
person whose statements were all correct or who was always absolutely
right. This is an important theoretical question, a question of whether or not
we are adhering to historical materialism74.
Dengs proclamation should be considered as the origin of all subsequent measures
of reform, because a comprehensive reform of the Chinese economic system required
a rethinking of the formal communist ideology. From then onwards, China proceeded
towards a market- driven economy without a backpaddle.
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Apart from ideological reforms, another key aspect of Dengs reform that directly
affected the issue of food security is the official adoption of the household
responsibility system (HRS), which contracted out land and allowed a portion of the
agriculture surplus to be retained by the peasants, instead of being held in a
centralized resource allocation system, thus increasing incentives for agriculture
production and the securing of food supply which is important to the purpose of this
thesis is that75. Deng justified such drastic departure from Maoist traditions in terms of
stability and security:
Proceeding from the realities in China, we must first of all solve the
problem of the countryside. Eighty per cent of the population lives in rural
areas, and China's stability depends on the stability of those areas. No
matter how successful our work is in the cities, it won't mean much without
a stable base in the countryside. We therefore began by invigorating the
economy and adopting an open policy there, so as to bring the initiative of
80 per cent of the population into full play76.
Furthermore, Deng abandoned another Maoist maxim on the issue of
industrialization. He decided to reverse the priority of agriculture in the official
planning of economic development.
We should establish the concept that agriculture is the foundation of the national
economy and that industry must serve it. A major task for industry is to support
agriculture and promote its modernizationI have written a letter to comrades in
Sichuan Province telling them that the more industry is developed, the more we
should adhere to the principle of giving first place to agriculture77.
How can such a remarkable change in the perception of food security be accounted
for? As I have discussed in the Mao era section, it is imperative to review both the
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international and domestic security environment, in order to understand the changes
and continuities in the perception of the ruling elites on food security.
One of the key changes in the Deng era is the improvement of the security situation
at the international level. Despite the horrendous loss in lives and resources during the
Mao era, the PRC did succeeded in accomplishing rudimentary industrialization and
modernization, starting with an industrial base smaller than that of Belgium in the
1950s. When Deng took over, the PRC was one of the six largest industrial states in
the world. National income increased by 63 percent from 1957 to 197578
. Chinas
ability to defend itself was also greatly enhanced, leading to a shift in self- perception
as the PRC became more reassured of its own power. Sino- American relations
improved, as both states were worried about the Soviet Union becoming a serious
military threat due to Brezhnevs great expansion of the Soviet armed forces79. Deng
argued in 1985 that the international situation had improved for China:
Generally speaking, the forces for world peace are growing, but the danger of
war still exists. Not much progress has been made in the talks on control of
nuclear arms and of weapons in outer space. That's why for many years we
emphasized the danger of war. Recently, however, there have been some changes
in our views. We now think that although there is still the danger of war, the
forces that can deter it are growing, and we find that encouraging.
Consequently, it can be readily observed that the major security problems in the
Deng era were mostly domestic in nature. Food security, in particular was one of the
most important domestic issues at the time, along with a devastated economy, polluted
environment and lingering internal ideological confrontations with hardcore Maoists.
Therefore, Deng and other CCP leaders decided to put most of their efforts into
domestic security concerns, to take advantage of the improvement of the international
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security environment. The shift in security priorities did not mean that the Deng era
leaders were less influenced by the sovereignty norm. Instead, the issue still remained
of seeking to achieve self- reliance in order to secure Chinas sovereignty. Deng
considered that strengthening other economic sectors and returning the country to
normalcy after a decade of chaos were more important to protect China than the
reckless modernization and permanent revolution promoted by Mao80.
Furthermore, the chaotic last years of the Mao era demonstrated a serious deficiency
in the Maoist concept of security, which prompted his successors to look for a new
approach to security. Food security remained integral and important to the Chinese
concept of security during the Deng era, despite dramatic changes in the international
and domestic security environment. Also, the Chinese concept of security continued
to broaden. It was arguably more flexible to changes than the contemporary Western
notion, which remained realist and statist in nature, without consideration of the non-
traditional security agenda.
As China continues to develop economically and open up to the world, the
perceptions of the ruling elites continue to evolve too. Moreover, increased
cooperation at the international level is leading to changes in perception. The
following chapter will investigate the idea of food security in relation to Chinas
international engagement.
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Chapter Three:
Understanding Food Security in China:
Changing identities and Great Power Responsibility
(i) The Changing International Security Environment
As the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, symbolized by the disintegration of the
Soviet Union, the international security environment has undergone significant
changes. Only one superpower, the United States, remains and the possibility of a
world war involving the remaining great powers significantly decreases. However, the
decrease in inter- state violent conflicts was not matched by a similar reduction in
intra- state or civil violent conflicts. A series of virulently violent intra-state conflicts,
such as Rwanda and Kosovo, occurred soon after the end of Cold War. As more and
more episodes of internal violence and unrest emerged in the developing world, the
international security community--- academics, statesmen and international
policymakers strove to keep up with the fluid and chaotic international security
environment, leading to the formulation of the non- traditional security agenda in the
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1990s and 2000s.
Amid all the changes in the security environment at the international level, China
continued to reform its economy and infrastructure, transforming itself from a
developing state with an balanced economy to the great factory of the world which
improved the quality of life of the Chinese people greatly. Moreover, traditional
security threats to China diminished significantly in the post- Cold War world. The
dissolution of the Soviet Union eased the military threat on the northern border. At the
same time, improved relations with the USA also reduced the military threat on the
maritime border, despite the unresolved issue of Taiwan. The Chinese defence white
book, Chinas National Defense in 2004, officially claimed that the international
security environment was reasonably peaceful:
Peace and development remain the dominating themes of the times. Although the
international situation as a whole tends to be stable, factors of uncertainty,instability and insecurity are on the increase81.
As for the non- traditional security issues in China, the food security situation in the
1990s improved greatly. During the Deng era agricultural reforms proved to be highly
successful and food productivity increased sharply in the 1980s and 1990s. From
1984 to 1995, the total yield of staple grain increased by fifteen percent and the total
yield of meat increased by two hundred percent82. Both the quality and quantity of
Chinese food supply improved remarkably.
However, the security achievements of the PRC were challenged after a decade of
successes. In 1997, the Asian Financial Crisis led to stagnations and reverses in
economic development in the Asia- Pacific region.83 China did not suffer seriously in
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the Crisis, but this was the first time the ruling elites of the PRC observed the effects
of an international non- traditional security crisis in the region. The internal racial
strife and subsequent regime change in Indonesia in 1998 illustrated the threats to
national and human security from non- traditional security issues such as financial
instability and poor governance84.
Six years later, the PRC experienced a significant international non- traditional
security crisis itself. In 2003, a worldwide outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) began from Guangdong Province of China. Since the initial index
case, the SARS virus transmitted across the globe with unprecedented speed,
overwhelming the public health systems of many states in a matter of weeks. The
World Health Organization declared the first global alert in its 55- year history and
issued advice against travel to China, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam.
The subsequent political and economic effect was devastating as Asian markets and
business sectors plummeted. The Western states declared strict quarantine measures at
ports of entry to stop the disease from infecting their citizens, which caused great
congestion and slowed down the global economic process85. China suffered serious
loss in terms of human lives and economic development during the SARS epidemic.
Furthermore, the epidemic was the first major non- traditional security crisis
experienced by the PRC since the Deng era.
At the same time, the food security of China was challenged after enjoying a
decade of self- reliance in food production from 1980s to 1990s. The increase in
consumption and difficulties in increasing the productivity of agriculture due to
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environmental constraints forced China to import a significant amount of food after a
decade of self- reliance:
China's annual grain production is expected to hit a new high of 520 million tons
in five years but rising consumption will still leave a shortfall Consumption
may surge to 550 million tons in 2010, when the population is projected to reach
1.345 billion. In addition to soybeans, the country may need to import around 20
million tons of grain in 201086
Furthermore, the entry of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) means
China has to open up its domestic market to foreign agricultural exports and reduce
support to the Chinese peasants, decreasing the domestic agricultural capacity and
subject the food supply of China to fluctuations of international food market when
China increase its reliance on food import87.
(ii) Non- Traditional Security and Globalization
This series of non- traditional security crises prompted an interest in the non-
traditional security agendas among the ruling elites and Chinese academics, which
lead to the formulation of the New Security Concept (NSC) that focused on regional
and global cooperation on security issues in 1997, as noted in Chapter 1 88. The
Chinese government officially adopted the non- traditional security agenda into its
security doctrines in 2003. At the 16th Chinese Communist Party, the then President of
the PRC, Jiang Zemin, discussed the Chinese understanding of the non- traditional
security agenda:
Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. The elements
of traditional and non-traditional threats to security are intertwined, and the
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scourge of terrorism is more acutely felt. Hegemonism and power politics
have new manifestations. Local conflicts triggered by ethnic or religious
contradictions and border or territorial disputes have cropped up from time
to time. The North-South gap is widening
This new official Chinese understanding of non- traditional security reflected an
emphasis on the relations between globalization and the rise of non- traditional
security issues. Wang Yong, a leading IR scholar in China, explained the rise in non-
traditional security threats as being partly attributed to fragmentation effects caused
by globalization, and under-regulated market forces89.
Chinese academics considered globalization as an irreversible trend in the post-
Cold War world which complicated the international security environment. They
argued that globalization escalates the North- South divide and facilitates the rapid
spread of security threats, especially the non- traditional ones, around the world, due
to globalization of communication and transport technologies90.
Wang then further elaborated on the Chinese understanding of the nature and origins
of non- traditional security threats in the increasingly globalized world:
Comparing with traditional security issues, mainly the interstate security
interactions or security matters, non- traditional security can be defined as
transnational security matters and intrastate sources of security threat. Major
actors in non- traditional security issues is not state but terrorist [sic],
extreme nationalists, drug trafficking and population trafficking groups
The transnational sources of security threat, is mainly non-military threat,
but in a globalizing world, these security threats can produce damages to
international community as powerful as any military threat91.
It should be noted here that food security is not mentioned in the aforementioned
new Chinese understanding of non- traditional security. In Chapter two, the
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importance of food security in the ruling elites understanding of security has been
reviewed. I have suggested that the CCP ruling elites consistently held the issue of
food security in high regard, despite the differences in interpretation of the Marxist
ideology between Mao and Deng. How do we account for the absence of food
security in the post- Cold War on the Chinese non- traditional security agenda? What
is the situation of food security today? And how do we account for the changes in the
understanding to security among the ruling elites?
During the Mao and Deng eras, food security has been considered as an important
domestic non- traditional security issue by the ruling elites, despite the fact that their
perception and understanding of its importance was heavily shaped by the traditional,
realist perspective of security. The emphasis of self- reliance in Chinese agricultural
policies was the result of combination of a hostile international security environment
and the Chinese elites self- perception as victim, which matches the combined
effect of the international norm of sovereignty and collective memory of Chinese as
suggested by Johnston92.
However, the issue of food security in China ceases to be a purely domestic concern.
During this period, foreign influence on the Chinese idea of food security was limited.
In the contemporary era, todays ruling elites have to face the reality that the PRC
today is deeply embedded in the international economy, and that Chinas food security
therefore is deeply intertwined with the international community. Self- reliance in
food, albeit still proclaimed as a official goal by the Chinese government, has to be
supplemented complemented by substantial imports via international trade in the
globalized world. This, in turn, has reinforced the importance of international
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cooperation in relation to non- traditional security concerns.
In the PRCs defence white book, Chinas National Defense in 2004, the Chinese
government stated that the PRC aims to resolve non- traditional security issues
through cooperation with other states and intenational organizations (IOs),
China attaches great importance to security cooperation in the non-
traditional security fields with other countries, maintaining that in jointly
combating non-traditional security threats, it is imperative to address both
the symptoms and root causes and to adopt comprehensive measures93.
The international norm of sovereignty is still deeply internalized and respected
among Chinese elites as reflected by the fact that the Chinese government has yet to
fully adopt the concept of human security because the relations between human
security, international human right norms and international interventions are too
sensitive for the ruling elites. However, the contemporary ruling elites are becoming
more flexible in their approaches in securing Chinas sovereignty, as isolation and
self-reliance is no longer an option for todays China. China is deeply involved in
globalization , and the ruling elites understand that China need to cooperate at the
international level in order secure itself at the domestic level, as non- traditional
security issues are multi- faceted in nature94.
Furthermore, the self- identification of Chinese elites is different from the Mao and
Deng era. Twenty- five years of economic growth have improved Chinas material
power significantly and the PRC is no longer surrounded by hostile states as it was
during the era of Cold War. The victim identity has gradually been replaced by self-
confidence, as reflected in a government document, published in 2005:
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Peace is the foundation for development while development is fundamental for
peace. For years, the Chinese government and people have made unremitting
efforts to create a peaceful international environment. They cherish dearly the
peaceful international environment jointly created by the peace-loving and
progress-seeking countries and peoples, concentrate on their own construction
and whole-heartedly seek development, and strive constantly to make positive
contributions to world peace and development with their own growth, and
promote human civilization and progress95. --- Chinas Peaceful Development
Road, 2005 Chinese Government White Paper.
(iii) Chinas Participation in cooperation related International Food Security
Such changes in the ruling elites responses to a new security environment can also
be observed in the issue of food security. The absence of speech references to food
security in the new official Chinese non- traditional security agenda does not
necessarily indicate that todays ruling elites have failed to understand importance of
food security. In face China is becoming much more assertive in its foreign policy
behaviour, and it is attempting to present itself as a responsible great power in
international affairs related to food security. In fact, China is becoming much more
assertive in its international cooperation, in particular on the issue of food security at
the international level.
Chinas new stance on international food security can be traced back to 1996. At
the 1996 World Food Summit, Premier Li Peng pledged enormous support for Chinas
active participation in promoting international cooperation related to food security.
Five years later, the then Vice-Premier of the State Council, Wen Jiabao, reaffirmed
the PRCs commitment pledged by his predecessor:
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Since the 1996 World Food Summit, the Chinese Government has earnestly
honoured its relevant commitments and further consolidated the fundamental
standing of agriculture, bringing China's food production and its level of food
security to a new high. We shall continue to act in accordance with the Plan of
Action of the 1996 Summit and take effective measures to protect our food
production capacity so as to lay a good foundation for economic growth and
social progressChina has established good cooperative relations with United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme and other
international organizations and agencies On our part, China has also provided
assistance within its capacity to some developing countries one way or the other
over the years96.
Since then, the PRC has participated the relevant international organizations (IOs)
such as the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food & Agriculture Organization
(FAO), the UNDP and the World Bank to cooperate in projects that aim to alleviate
food insecurity in both China and other developing states. It should be noted that the
PRC is no longer the recipient of food aid from the World Food Programme, which
indicates international recognition of the success it has achieved in securing its own
food supply97. Now it seems that the PRC is attempting to promote its own successful
experience to other developing states. The PRC, for example, has signed several aid
agreements with African and Pacific states. In Sierra Leone, the PRC has agreed to
cooperate with the FAO to provide technical aid:
This project entails the fielding of technical assistance services by the People's
Republic of China in consultation with the FAO for the identification, designing
and implementation of the Special Programme for Food Security for a period of
two to four years in two phases98.
As for the aid in Oceania region,
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[China] will send 36 agricultural experts and technicians specialized in
agronomy, irrigation, livestock and fisheries, to eight Pacific Island nations, FAO
announced today The initiative is part of FAO's South-South Cooperation
Programme that aims to strengthen cooperation among developing countries to
improve agricultural productivity and ensure access to food for all99.
Furthermore, China has become the third largest food donor in the world, lagging
behind only the United States of America and the combined efforts of the European
Union:
In the same year it stopped receiving food aid from the World Food Programme
(WFP), China emerged as the globe's third largest food aid donor in 2005,
according to the organization's latest annual Food Aid Monitor100.
(iv) What does this mean to Chinese Foreign Policy?
The above trends seem to indicate that Chinas identity as a major power is
undergoing significant transformation. China is increasing its participation in global
governance that aims to improve the international food security situation. In so doing,
it is gradually transforming itself into a new international identity of a responsible
power. In his work on relations between normative changes and Chinese foreign
policy, Alastair Iain Johnston suggests that,
Over the 1980s and 1990s Chinas self- identification has undergone a
change, a blurring. The traditional sovereign- centric, autonomous major
power identity--- rooted at the very least in the myths of modern Chinese
nationalism--- has been uneasily linked to newer identity as a responsible
major power, one whose status is measured in part by participation in
institutions that increasingly regulate interstate behaviour Chinese leaders
are more sensitive to China being portrayed as an isolated, obstructionist
player in international institutions, since such accusations clash with this
evolving new- identity, an identity that is supported by other actors in the
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system101.
It should be duly noted that Johnstons remarks were articulated in late 1990s and the
focus of his discussion of the time was not non- traditional security, as the concept of
non- traditional security has only been introduced recently. However, I would argue
that the way in whcich Chinese elites understand and act upon the issue of food
security does match Johnstons argument on the relationship between identity changes
and foreign policy behaviour. The difference between my thesis and Johnstons
argument is that I place a stronger emphasis upon changes in the domestic security
environment as being equally important to the changes in national identity as the
improvements in Chinas engagement at the international level, while Johnstons
argument largely focused on the effect of national identity from international
normative structures only.
The new Chinese national identity of being a major responsible power provides
further explanations to the contemporary Chinese behaviour at the international level.
What does responsibility mean for China? In order to account for this, I am turning to
the English School approach to international relations. Hedley Bull argues that
management by the great powers is one of the principal institutions that sustain order
in international society102.
For Bull, there are five ways that great powers should act in order to maintain the
international social order: (1) Preservation of the general balance of power;
(2)Avoidance and Control of Crises; (3)Limitation of War; (4)The Unilateral Exercise
of local Preponderance; and (5) [Maintenance of] Spheres of Influence, Interest or
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Responsibility103.
These five issues outlined above can be generalized into two principles of action:
careful management of relations between great powers themselves and careful
exploitation of their preponderance in a way that encourages the rest of international
society to abide by the shared norms, rules and values104. From the five issues outlined
above, it can be readily observed that Bull considers great power management of key
importance in maintaining the international social order.
Despite Bulls own warning about the limitations of his theory to international
society, his theory remains valid for more than twenty years after the Cold War. The
foundation of his theory, preservation of elementary social goals (life, truth,
property) remains accepted by most of the states as observed by frequent reassertion
of the inviolable nature of national sovereignty. At the same time, other aspects of the
international society have been strengthened as various international institutions have
demonstrated higher vitality in the post Cold War world105.
The new assertiveness of China in international affairs related to food security
matches Bulls argument on great power responsibility well. The difference between
Bulls scenario and the contemporary case is that the issues that a major power needs
to contend with are mainly non- traditional security issues, as contrasted with the
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