China

China's potential for assisting other countries in their efforts towards peace is significant as its global influence expands and recent developments point to a growing engagement on peace and security matters. For example, China has increased the amount of troops it supplies to UN peacekeeping missions twenty-fold since 2000, making it the UN Security Council’s biggest contributor to peacekeeping missions.

In Africa, where it has rapidly deepened its economic engagement over the last decade, China has become a key stakeholder in the regional security landscape. It has assisted with demining, financially supported African Union  peacekeepers and contributed to multilateral anti-piracy efforts. Without abandoning its policy of non-interference, Beijing has cautiously begun to put diplomatic pressure on partner countries to push for a resolution of conflicts. China is also set to play a larger role in post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding efforts.

In relation to arms transfers China resumed submitting data on imports and exports to the UN Register of Conventional Arms in 2007, and it has taken measures to implement the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons. It has signed up to, although not ratified, the UN Firearms Protocol. China has consistently abstained in UN General Assembly votes on an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which would ensure common global standards for arms transfers, although it does not reject the principle of an ATT.

There remains a need for greater research and informed debate, both inside and outside China, on the implications of the country's growing international role, particularly relating to arms transfers and to peace and security in Africa, Central Asia and South Asia.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and as the second largest economy in the world, China’s global position has implications for a broad spectrum of peace and security issues. Despite the fact that it does not always share the views of Western countries on international intervention, China has endorsed the UN’s Responsibility to Protect principles that guide the international community’s protection of populations from mass atrocities. Chinese policy has also become more flexible regarding the deployment of peacekeepers and the mandates they are given. In some cases, such as Somalia, China has called on the international community to play a more proactive role.

At the same time, Beijing continues to follow a policy of non-interference in domestic political affairs, which critics argue has been used to protect partner regimes. At the UNSC, Chinese diplomats refuse to endorse multilateral interventions without host-country consent and remain sceptical towards the efficacy of sanctions and arms embargoes. While China supports the principles underpinning the International Criminal Court, it has not ratified the Rome Statute that activated it and has openly voiced its opposition to some of the Court’s actions. 

While small compared to leading arms suppliers, China’s share of the global trade in arms is growing. Between 2006 and 2009, 98 percent of its arms exports went to developing countries. Beijing's approach to arms exports has been based on the assumption that national controls, respect for UN embargoes, the right of states to self-defence, a ban on transfers to non-state actors and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, are sufficient means to guarantee that arms transfers do not undermine peace and security.

Nonetheless, China has supplied weapons to countries, such as Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Zimbabwe, where persistent violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have occurred for many years. Furthermore, many of these weapons, especially small arms and light weapons (SALW), have proliferated and had knock-on effects across borders. While China is by no means the only country to transfer arms that eventually are used in conflicts, weapons exports to sensitive regions have undermined China’s claim to be a responsible power. 

For the past six years Saferworld has been actively engaging in policy dialogue with the overall goal that China contributes more positively to international action towards conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Our activities are aimed at Chinese policy-makers, officials, think-tanks and academics and focus on three main thematic areas:

• Conventional arms proliferation - we engage on issues such as small arms proliferation, export controls and the arms trade treaty.

• China-Africa relations- we are hosting several dialogues on the issue and in 2011 published an in-depth report on China’s growing role in African peace and security.

• China’s engagement in conflict-affected and fragile states - We have begun a process of case-study research on China’s engagement in conflict-affected and fragile states, examining for example its aid, financing, arms transfers, UN security council role and military cooperation.

Besides engaging in with the Chinese policy community, Saferworld’s China Programme has sought to inform and persuade Western policymakers to pro-actively seek co-operative actions with China, both at the international level and within fragile states themselves, while at the same time maintaining principled approaches in the face of declining influence. We have also begun to work with officials and civil society in countries where China has come to play a major role.