The Place of Cyber Diplomacy in Promoting China's International Role

Document Type : Original Independent Original Article

Author

• Mojgan Ghorbani

PhD. Student of International Relations, Tarbiat Modares University

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

After land, sea, air, and space, cyberspace currently stands as the most recent and most complex battlefield in which great world powers compete to determine and delimit the acting domains. Any nation with higher cyberspace power and influence can play a more substantial role in the game of power. In contrast, a nation that does not attain this level of power must be a consumer and a subordinate. Therefore, it is natural for the great powers to engage in rivalry to gain more power in cyberspace and eventually dominate this realm.

As a great power in the international arena, China initially adopted a relatively proactive stance. However, it took a  more active cyberspace diplomacy during  Xi Jinping's presidency. This article seeks to provide answers to the core questions of what the goals and priorities of Chinese cyber diplomacy are and what policies have been implemented to achieve them.

Methodology

The research method in this article is descriptive-explanatory, and the data collection is built on library and Internet search. China's cyber goals and strategies are first described. Subsequently, the power cycle theory is drawn upon to elucidate China's cyber power and its role in the international arena.

Results and Discussion

The findings reveal the following cyber diplomacy goals and priorities in this country:

- Developing into a normative power: The concept of normative power is more conceptual than material or physical. It describes the capacity to compete in developing an alternative set of norms to alter the international order in cyberspace. In this regard, China opposes the United States, which advocates for a global, open, and secure Internet; cyber sovereignty is a fundamental principle of Internet governance supported by China.

- Cyber superpower: Cyber superpower is characterized primarily by the promotion of China's normative vision and the ability to set the agenda for international cyber debates. The Chinese government under Xi believes that becoming a lawmaker and a norm-setter provides potent mechanisms for shaping the cyber behavior of others in China's favor.

- Standardization: In cyberspace, standardization in its general sense refers to the definition of technology standards or criteria in software, hardware, and communication technologies, followed by a concerted effort to promote, consolidate, or even impose these criteria in international forums in order to secure the cyber power of a nation in the realm of international governance.

- Indigenization: It entails achieving technological independence from Western manufacturers on both the commercial and military fronts by establishing a local supply chain.

China employs a matrix of strategies, including holding the World Internet Conference, bolstering the role of the United Nations, and concluding intergovernmental agreements to achieve these goals.

Conclusion

Cyberspace has become one of the strategic areas of competition between the world's great powers over the past decade. As a major world power, China has set goals such as standardization, indigenization, and aspirations to be a normative power and cyber superpower, seeking to achieve these goals by holding the World Internet Conference, bolstering the role of the United Nations, and concluding intergovernmental agreements. According to the power cycle theory, achieving these goals will increase China's cyber power in the international arena and its status as a major cyberspace player. In other words, China can enforce its norms and standards and change the Western-oriented cyber order that governs the international system.

Keywords

• China
• U.S
• cyber diplomacy
• cyber sovereignty
• cyber-superpower

Main Subjects

• Information
• China
• Media
• East Asia
• Information Technology (IT)
• Great Powers