China's Relations with Its Neighbours

▪ 2006

      During the administration of Chinese Pres. Hu Jintao, who took office in 2003, China adopted a so-called Good Neighbour Policy as part of a new strategy of “peaceful development,” in which China sought to promote an interdependent, rather than competitive, relationship with its neighbours and the world. In the second half of the 20th century, China had experienced three military conflicts with neighbouring countries— India in 1962, the Soviet Union in 1969, and Vietnam in 1979—each of which had been over disputed territories along their borders. By 2005, however, effects of the Good Neighbour Policy were increasingly evident. In 2004 China had reached an agreement with Russia that put an end to their decades-long border disputes. The two countries agreed on the final demarcation of two areas totaling some 375 sq km (145 sq mi) along their eastern border, with China gaining control over Tarabarov Island (Yinlong Island) and 50% of Bolshoy Ussurisky Island (Heixiazi Island). In 2005 China signed an agreement with India to resolve their dispute over a territory covering 130,000 sq km (50,000 sq mi) in the Himalayan region. This was only the latest sign of a warming in Sino-Indian relations. Recent years had seen India officially accept China's definition of Tibet and China reopen a trade route into India through the border region of Sikkim. The latter move appeared to signal China's recognition for the first time of Indian sovereignty over Sikkim.

      During a visit to Vietnam in late 2005, President Hu offered a five-point proposal for developing political and economic relations. In one of those points, China proposed to complete the full demarcation of the border between the two countries, a first step toward resolving the disputes that lingered from the 1979 war. During Hu's visit, a joint statement was also released that announced the countries' plans to expand bilateral trade from $7 billion to $10 billion by 2010. This visit was preceded by Hu's trip to North Korea. Throughout the year China persistently attempted to persuade North Korea to return to six-party talks on nuclear disarmament.

      In another attempt to promote regional cooperation, China continued to push “ ASEAN-plus-one” (China) and “ASEAN-plus-three” (China, South Korea, and Japan) initiatives to expand the free-trade area of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. China also remained committed to building relations with Central Asian states, mainly via the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This intergovernmental body had originated as the “Shanghai Five” in 1996, when China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan signed the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions at a summit meeting held in Shanghai. Uzbekistan joined the group in 2001, when the SCO was formally established. Its basic goals were regional security and economic cooperation.

      Despite the many positive developments in foreign relations that China's Good Neighbour Policy had helped to bring about by 2005, tensions in Sino-Japanese relations heightened sharply. Several issues had led to an increasingly acrimonious atmosphere. One was Japan's adoption of new history textbooks that whitewashed its wartime atrocities against China. A second issue was over continual visits by Japan's top leaders, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, a war memorial that China's Foreign Ministry had called “a symbol of militarism” that “honours Class A war criminals.” A third issue concerned Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council—a bid that China successfully helped to thwart. Toward the end of 2005, however, both governments called for resolutions of sensitive problems and promised to work on their differences. In China's case it appeared evident that it would continue to regard a good relationship with neighbouring countries as vital to its economic development as well as to political stability.

Xiaobo Hu

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