Want China Times
Staff Reporter
September 15, 2014
Chinese president Xi Jinping is taking a more proactive stance on foreign policy than his predecessors with a two-pronged approach that tackles both the East and West in a more practical and flexible manner, according to The Diplomat, a Tokyo-based politics magazine.
Jin Kai, an assistant professor at Daejin University in South Korea, wrote in a commentary that Xi’s approach to diplomacy can be categorized into “Go West” and “Leap East.”
The Go West route refers to building developing a community of common interests with countries to its west, including Central Asian countries and the Middle East, so that China can secure reciprocal economic cooperation. Further, such an approach, which will seek to take advantage of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) — formed between China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan — will also address geopolitical concerns and regional security threats such as terrorism.
China is acutely aware that it needs to find more developmental space to its west because of added pressure from America’s “return to Asia” strategy to its east, the commentary added, citing comments made by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in its SCO Yellow Book 2014.
On the other hand, China is said to be taking a Leap East approach to its east. Given the increasing US presence in East Asia and its strengthening ties with Japan and South Korea, China will not be able to gain the upper hand in the region in the short run, the commentary said, adding that it would be a “better choice” to simply “leap” over them towards Latin America, provided that stability can be maintained.
In other words, it would be preferable for China to not directly confront ongoing issues in East Asia and to “find more diplomatic maneuvering space on the other side.” A good example of this is Xi’s two visits to Latin America this July and last June, Jin said.
Another interesting observation made by Jin is the fact that China does not seem to care that many Latin American countries maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan, suggesting that Beijing is taking a more long-term strategy to the region. This approach appears to be driven by economic concerns, as China will likely become Latin America’s second largest trading partner within the next two years and could even eventually pass the US for the top spot, the commentary said.
