The growing Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China: practices and representations of affirmed diplomacy,,
By Dylan MH LOH
Stanford University Press, 2024
The rise of China as a global superpower is marked by a debate on the question of whether the climb has been peaceful or aggressive. Called “affirmation”, offensive turn has fueled the debate and attracted attention more. While the traditional stories about the rise of China, in particular its assertion, focus on its growing soldiers, its senior political leaders and its nationalism, Dylan Loh The China Foreign Ministry of Affairs shows how the assertion of China can be explained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The book shows a certain degree of influence independent of MOFA and considers political leadership as a catalyst for such a role, and not independent of the main leaders. The book contributes to an increasing set of literature trying to explain the sources of the rise of China, in particular its affirmative on the world scene. Some recent works are focusing on the role of diplomats, such as Peter Martin (2021) The Civil Army of China: the manufacture of the diplomacy of wolf warriors. Others minimize the independent role of MOFA, as in DAI and LIQIU (2024) Diplomacy of wolf warriors and Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: from podium policy.
Wolf Warrior diplomacy, assertive and often conflictual -style diplomacy adopted by Chinese diplomats, is starting to attract a lot of attention around 2019, although Loh stresses that assertive diplomacy has been observable since 2009. The book focuses on developments from 2009 to 2020, with reflections on the role of the MOFA as a central driver and its “resume” affirmed (p.2). The author uses interviews, the observation of the participants, the textual documents and the analysis of the artifacts to study the internal dynamics of the Chinese government. He then applies the theory of practice, an analytical survey focused on human “actions and sayings” (p.2) to study China, which adds to the tradition to apply conventional IR theories to study China. The book addresses questions in a timely but confusing time, including the way in which the affirmation of China’s assertion is represented and manifested, how other actors build and understand the behavior of China, and why its behavior is increasingly evaluated as affirmed by others (p.137).
The book is organized in five chapters. The introduction presents the importance of MOFA and diplomats, while the first chapter covers existing literature, gaps in the field and the methods used. The second chapter illustrates the communication and daily practices of MOFA, by emphasizing the function of representation of diplomats. The third chapter judges the formal and informal rules in the field of Chinese diplomacy. The fourth chapter shows that MOFA has a significant impact on the production of knowledge on foreign policies, the implementation of policies and coordination, and the fifth chapter illustrates how X (formerly Twitter) increases the power of the discourse of Chinese diplomacy and delegitimate non -Chinese diplomatic actors. The conclusion sums up the results, stressing that material objects and structural configuration play a crucial role in the facilitation of assertive diplomacy.
The book begins by fixing three gaps in the existing literature on Chinese foreign policy: little attention to the role of diplomats, an analysis too centered on the State which ignores other actors and an almost non-existent reflection on the experience and practices of diplomats (pp.23-26). The author proposes an account of research on the way MOFA has become an important actor and his role in the construction of the Chinese affirmation (p.24). It relies and extends the theory of sociology and practice of Bourdieu in IR and applies it to non -Western contexts. He investigates “actions and words” in Chinese diplomacy, in particular assertive diplomacy, which has received little attention despite the way it has become global policy (p.2).
In short, the book makes four key arguments. First, the Chinese affirmation is guided and represented by MOFA and its diplomats, and not by the army, and the MOFA rose under President XI (p.6). Such a powerful influence since 2009 has finally strengthened the global affirmation of China (p.41). MOFA has become an influential player and adopted a “representation role” for China, both in international and national arenas, as evidenced by its affirmed international diplomacy and its consecutive interventions in military, economic and national governance (p. 138). MOFA has received massive funding recently and China has exceeded the United States in terms of the most diplomatic missions in the world in 2019 (China has reached a heavy missions 276) (p.139). Second, MOFA is partially mounted on social networks, in particular X, and the online presence and the activities of diplomats (react, respond, criticism, etc.) have been part of their performance assessments (pp.7-8). Third, the book shows that the power of MOFA constitutes three functional capacities: “Advisor, implement and facilitate / coordination” (p.9). MOFA has a knowledge production capacity – it advises the main leaders on various issues, from decision -making to meet foreign leaders, and this council is considered authority. MOFA has a capacity to implement policies, not only in the implementation of the order from above, but also to make its own movements. MOFA also enjoys the ability to coordinate policy (pp.139-140). Diplomats are now enjoying greater authority and freedom when they engage with politicians, and greater flexibility to express themselves (p.140). Insurance diplomats have become synonymous with affirmed China (p.138). Finally, the book maintains that Chinese diplomats build how the external public see China (for example, perception, identity) and its affirmation, through their interactions and their production of text (pp.9-10). The book presents some cases on the increased improvement in the MOFA: Wang Yi’s visit to China Yi, the declarations of the Sea of Southern China of the Anase, the detention of Terrex vehicles of Singapore and the power of the diplomatic protocol (pp.47-62).
Thanks to this book, Loh advances practical research. His theoretical contributions include an emphasis on the role of material objects (for example, physical infrastructure) in research in practice and the introduction of the new concept of “transversal disturbance” to show how the local Chinese diplomatic domain disrupted the transnational domain (p.147). Loh presents the concept of institutional habitus, “the vision and the provision of the relatively lasting world of an institution”, and applies it to the study of Chinese diplomacy (p.98). In doing so, he increased the concept of “habitus” and offered a more dynamic vision of organization (culture) against a more static vision (p.148). Based on Adler and Pouliot (2011), the author advances the definition of practice as “socially significant, competent and incompetent performance by individuals and institutions in and on the material world” (p.31). Empirically, Loh shows talents and a precious bravery to discover sensitive data that involves risks, the possibility of political reaction, surveillance and even legal challenges. However, this also invites a criticism, because (given the nature of the data, the data collection procedure and the sensitivity to the problems) is difficult. Thus, the scope of the verification of subjectivity is limited, as, by extension, the scope of the verification of interpretation biases or observers in the process. Thus, although the reproducibility verification is possible using LOH data, the potential replicability of the results (new data collection) is limited (Brodeur et al. 2024).
In short, the book addresses the recent offensive turn of China and enriches growing literature on the assertion of the affirmation of China. While some of the recent work has minimized the role of MOFA (DAI and LIQIU, 2024), this book highlighted the important role of MOFA behind Chinese diplomacy. This is an important addition to the field, in order to understand the changing nature of the rise of China. The book advances research in existing practice and constitutes a precious addition to a qualitative investigation into the Chinese foreign policy (affirmed) and helps to reveal the internal functioning of the Chinese government. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the rise of China, its changing nature (in particular its internal work), its foreign policy, its assertion, as well as on research in practice as well as qualitative surveys more generally.
References:
Adler, Emanuel, and Vincent Pouliot. 2011. International practices. New York, United States: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511862373.
Brodeur, Abel, Kevin Esterling, Jörg Ankel-Peters, Natália S. Bueno, Scott Desposato, Anna Dreber, Federica Genovese, et al. 2024. “Promote reproducibility and replicability in political science”. Research and politics 11 (1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680241233439/asset/images/lange/10.1177_20531680241233439-fig1.jpeg.
Dai, Yaoyao and Lu Wei Rose Luqiu. 2024. “Diplomacy of War Warriors and Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: from politics to the podium.” 2024. Https://rowman.com/isbn/978166666914054/wolf-warrior-diplomacy-and-china%E2%80%99s-c-tristry-of-foreign-affairs-from-policy-to-podium.
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