Nontraditional Security Challenges in South Asia

Nontraditional Security and China’s Relations with South Asia

37 the national bureau of asian research LI LI is an Associate Research Fellow in the Institute of South and Southeast Asian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) in Beijing. Dr. Li has written extensively on India and South Asia, Middle East politics, and U.S. relations with the Islamic world, and she is the author of Security Perception and China-India Relations (2009). She can be reached at . Nontraditional Security and China’s Relations with South Asia Li Li Originally published in: Dennis Pirages, Farooq Sobhan, Stacy D. VanDeveer, and Li Li, “Ecological and Nontraditional Security Challenges in South Asia,” National Bureau of Asian Research, NBR Special Report, no. 28, June 2011.© 2012 The National Bureau of Asian Research. This PDF is provided for the use of authorized recipients only. For specific terms of use, please contact . EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This essay examines the implications of emerging nontraditional security challenges for China’s relations with South Asia. MAIN FINDINGS • China and South Asia face many of the same nontraditional security challenges, such as limited arable land for large populations, protracted poverty, limited access to energy resources, and environmental threats. • Several of South Asia’s nontraditional security concerns negatively affect China and its relations with the subcontinent. Poor human security, in terms of poverty and terrorism, jeopardizes Chinese business and investment in the region. • Regional cooperation on nontraditional security issues is also limited by low levels of cross-cultural linkages. Poor sanitation and health care in South Asia discourage cultural exchanges, such as Chinese tourism and foreign study. • Water security is an extremely sensitive regional issue because both China and South Asian countries face increasing water shortages due to urbanization, industrialization, and climate change. POLICY IMPLICATIONS • Traditional and nontraditional disputes between China and South Asia can only be solved through cooperation. The two sides could use lessons learned from previous cooperative efforts on nontraditional threats to strengthen their collaboration and take preventive steps to ensure peace and prosperity in the region. • Bilateral cooperation has occurred in agriculture, poverty reduction, health and disaster management, and energy and climate change. However, the two sides should also explore solutions at a multilateral level, such as the China-SAARC cooperative mechanism. • Cooperative measures are crucial for addressing several sensitive issues, particularly terrorism, growing food and energy demands, and water security. These nontraditional security challenges have the potential to exacerbate existing disputes in the region, especially between China and India. 39 NONTRADITIONAL SECURITY AND CHINA’S RELATIONS WITH SOUTH ASIA u LI C hina’s relations with South Asia have been dominated by traditional security issues. China and India’s unresolved border dispute and the unending India-Pakistan confrontation have limited the academic exploration of nontraditional security trends in South Asia and their implications for China. In the past decade, China and India have agreed that development is a priority to achieve their respective national strategic goals. The two countries have also reached a consensus that maintaining good political relations is the best security guarantee and the key to their simultaneous emergence as global powers. To a certain extent, this consensus reflects a change in perception by both sides on the nature of security. Unfortunately, however, the conservative forces that only focus on military security are still strong in each country, especially India. As a result, the future of China-India relations is often deliberated in the context of power competition, while China’s relations with Pakistan and the smaller South Asian countries continue to be observed through the narrow prism of regional balance of power. In an era of globalization, nontraditional security is no less relevant than traditional security. Neglecting nontraditional threats may exacerbate existing mutual distrust triggered by traditional security challenges. This essay attempts to draw attention to the impacts of nontraditional security challenges on China’s relations with the subcontinent. The first section identifies China’s and South Asia’s common concerns over nontraditional security and their joint efforts to address these issues. The second section examines the nontraditional challenges currently facing China’s relations with the region. The third section explores the potential trajectories of these challenges. Common Interests and Cooperation between China and South Asia in Dealing with Nontraditional Security Threats China and South Asia face similar nontraditional security threats. These challenges include managing limited arable land to feed the largest populations in the world, eradicating poverty and upgrading living standards, coping with environmental problems...