EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

Section 14 21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 171 Pahomova Maria (Institute of Oriental Studies RAS) Conceptual Foundations of PRC’s Policy towards Arab States Key words: China, Concept of the Foreign Policy, Islam, Arab States, Chinese-Arabian relations The study deals with the content of China’s policy towards Arab States (1978–2015). Emphasis rests on the significance of Chinese impact on The Middle East region. The key goal is to investigate the per- spectives of development relations between China and Arab States on the eve of modern policy trends in the region and underline the main trends of Chinese-Russian cooperation on two levels: theoretical, determining PRC theoretical views to providing foreign policy in this region, and practical, which means studying PRC historical experience in political actions towards the region. Several points of investigation can force us to reexamine the image of Chinese way of diplomacy and balance of power in the Middle East region. The author analyses structure of the Foreign Policy Concept of PRC and how it is realized towards the Arab region, presents periodization of China-Arab relations and shows the main changes have taken place in China's foreign policy at the turn of 1970–1980 years, defined character of interaction with main partners in the region (Egypt, Saudi Arabia) and large organizations (LAS, OIC, GCC). The author focuses on the influence of: 1. Chinese internal security, which is closely connected with Chinese Muslims. In this point of view we tend to talk about relations in a format of China — the Greater Middle East. There we can underlie two key points: providing so-called “correct Islamic education, free of extremism trends and familiarizing the citi- zens of Arab countries with China and Chinese culture, creation image of the world friendly powerful state. 2. The concept of non-intervention, which is regarded by Beijing as a guarantee for the regional and global stability. 3. Energy security and dependence of the PRC. 4. Chinese rapid economic growth and “financial diplomacy”, which might be considered as the main advantage of Chinese long-tern Middle East strategy. Portyakov Vladimir (Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences) The Evolution and Characteristics of China's International Relations in East Asia Key words: China, relations, East Asia, quantitative estimates East Asia remains one of the main priorities of China’s foreign policy. Over the years, the Chinese Peo- ple's Republic’relations with major countries of the region have undergone substantial, sometimes dramatic evolution. Understanding its causes helps better assess the current state and possible future development of Beijing relations with various partners. The methodology developed at the Institute of Contemporary International Relations, Tsinghua Univer- sity, and quantitative assessments, made on its basis, provide researches with unique tool for retrospective analysis of the level of China's relations with the countries of East Asia The level of the relationship is estimated to range from –9 to 9. Six types of relationships are identified: “confrontation” includes quantitative estimates from –9 to –6, “tension” — respectively, from –6 to –3, “dis- harmony” — between –3 and 0. Positive range of estimates covers categories of “normal relations” — from 0 to 3, “good” — from 3 to 6, and “friendly relations” — from 6 to 9. Each of the six categories has its own sub-levels of gradation (high-medium-low), quantitatively different from each other at one point (for example, “tensions of high intensity” — from –5 to -6, the “average” — –4 to –5, “low” — –3 to –4, and so on). The minimum value accounted for is 0.1 points. The assessments of bilateral relations between China and a number of states for the years 1950–2013, prepared by scientists of Tsinghua University, show that the proposed method allowed to trace adequately their general evolution as well as the sharp fluctuations of the relationship’s amplitude in the case of any unusual events. The report traces the fluctuations in the level of Beijing’ relations with the United States, the Soviet Union /Russia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Vietnam, and also forecasts such level for the period up to 2023.