中国扩大与联合国发展支柱的接触

STUDY GLOBALANDREGIONALORDER CHINA’SEXPANDINGENGAGEMENTWITHTHEUNITEDNATIONSDEVELOPMENTPILLAR TheSelectiveLong-termApproachofaProgrammeCountrySuperpower Chinahasbecomeanincreas-inglyvisibleplayerinUNdevel-opmentwork.Inlightofthefinancialandpoliticalresourcesatitsdisposal,however,China’sengagementhaslargelyre-mainedmoderateandselective. Chinaistakinganincreasinglyassertiveandlong-termap-proachtowardschangingsomeofthetraditionalcontoursofUNdevelopmentwork,withtheGlobalDevelopmentInitiativeasthemostrecentexample. Max-OttoBaumann,SebastianHaugandSilkeWeinlich November2022 ContrarytoWesternMemberStates,ChinacancapitaliseonthecombinationofitsrolesasasuperpowerandaUNpro-grammecountrytoexpandtieswiththeUN,notablythroughSouth-Southcooperation. GLOBALANDREGIONALORDER CHINA’SEXPANDINGENGAGEMENTWITHTHEUNITEDNATIONSDEVELOPMENTPILLAR TheSelectiveLong-termApproachofaProgrammeCountrySuperpower Content 1INTRODUCTION2 2DRAWINGTHECONTOURS: MONEYANDPEOPLE5 2.1China’sfunding5 2.2Chinesestaff12 3COLOURINGTHEPICTURE: KEYDIMENSIONSOFCHINA’SENGAGEMENT18 3.1China-ledinitiatives18 3.2“Chineselanguage”22 3.3China’sapproachtoleadership25 3.4China’sdiplomacyandalliances29 4CONNECTINGTHEDOTS: PATTERNSINCHINA’SENGAGEMENT33 5COMINGTOTERMSWITHCHINA’SENGAGEMENT:FINDINGSANDIMPLICATIONS36 References40 ListofTablesandFigures44 ListofAbbreviations45 FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG–CHINA’SEXPANDINGENGAGEMENTWITHTHEUNITEDNATIONSDEVELOPMENTPILLAR 1 INTRODUCTION1 ThePeople’sRepublicofChina’s2expandinginfluenceintheUnitedNations(UN)hasbecomeadefiningfeatureofto-day’sworldpolitics.Observerswatchwithkeeninterest,insomecasesalsowithconcern,astheworld’snewsuper-powerintensifiesitsengagementwiththeUN’sdevelop- mentpillar.Sincearound2015,anumberofeventsandini- tiativeshavesignalledChina’sreadinesstosignificantlystepupitssupportforandinterestintheUNdevelopmentsys-tem. 3Duringthe2015UNSustainableDevelopmentSum-mit,wherethe2030Agendawasadopted,ChineseleaderXiJinpingdeliveredalandmarkspeech,askingtheUNtotakeona“leadingrole”andpledgingan“initial”2billionUSdollarsforSouth-Southcooperation(MOFA2015).TheBeltandRoadInitiative(BRI),setupin2013,soonevolvedintoamajorplatformforseekingclosercooperationwithUNagencies(Haug2022a).In2016,ChinainitiatedtheUNPeaceandDevelopmentFund(UNPDF),establishedintheUNSecretariat,with200millionUSdollarspledgedoverten years.TheUNPDFchannelsresourcesforprojectsthroughtheUN(Mao2020).In2019,aChinesenationalbecameDi-rector-GeneraloftheFoodandAgricultureOrganization (FAO),thefifthleadershippositionoccupiedbyaChinese nationalintheUNdevelopmentsystem.4Amongthemostrecentstepswastheannouncementofthe“GlobalDevel-opmentInitiative”(GDI)attheUNGeneralAssemblyin2021,aglobalcomplementtotheBRI,whichwasconnect-edwiththepledgeto“strengthencooperationwithUNde- velopmentagencies,enhancestrategiccoordination,andjointlypromoteworkinpriorityareas”(People’sRepublicofChina2021a). 1Wewouldliketothankallintervieweesandcolleagueswhosup-portedthedraftingprocesswiththeirinsightsandcriticalfeedback.Allerrorsremainourown. 2Inthisstudy,“China”referstothePeople’sRepublic’sgovernment.WhileweareawarethatChina’sforeignpolicy–likethatofother states–isnotnecessarilyfullycoherentandissubjecttodomes- ticpowerstruggles,wefocusonChinaasamemberstateintheUN contextandthusdonotdifferentiatebetweendifferententitiesorvoiceswithintheChinesegovernment. 3ThereisnoauthoritativedefinitionoftheUNdevelopmentsystem. DespitethisremarkableChineseoutreach,therehasbeenrelativelylittlescholarlyengagementwithChina’sevolving- rcoulseedinoUnNodtheevrelaosppmecetnstowfoCrhki.nTah’sealpitperaotaucrhethoasthmeobsrtolyadfoer UNsystem:China’sroleintheUNGeneralAssemblyandtheEconomicandSocialCouncil(ECOSOC)(ISHR2021;seeTaskinen2020),inparticularwithregardtotheUN’shumanrightspillar(Inboden2019;Okano-HeijmansandvanderPutten2018;Piccone2018;ZhangandBuzan2019);theUNSecurityCouncilandpeacekeeping(Fung2018;LagonandLou2018;Lanteigne2019;Primiano2019);andglobalgov- ernancemoregenerally(BeesonandLi2016;Mao2019). Thelackofattentiontodevelopment-relatedmattersattheUNsurprises,giventhatChinahasmarkeddevelopmentasakeypolicyfieldthroughitsmoreadvancedinvolvementwithinternationaldevelopmentbanksandhigh-poweredbilateralinitiativessuchasBRI.Academicworkthataddress- esChina’sroleintheUNdevelopmentsystemmostlyfocus- esonfunding(Mao2020;Morrisetal.2021)andstaffingis-sues(FungandLam2021)thatareamenabletoquantitativeanalysisbutcoveronlyasectionofChina’srisingengage- mentwiththeUNdevelopmentwork(foranexception,see Chenetal.2020). Formanyobservers,andinparticularthosefromtheWest-ernworld,5China’sengagementwiththeUNdevelopment systemisinherentlyambiguous.Inrecentyears,Chinahas-vsenrgtimngixendarsriagtnivaelsaabboouuttitistsingteronwtioinngs,rgoivleinignriUseNtodetwveolodpi- mentwork.Ontheonehand,ChinahaspubliclydeclareditscommitmenttoUNmultilateralismandthe2030Agen-da.Ithasmadeconsiderableanddiverseeffortstobringinitsexpertiseinpovertyalleviationandotherdevelop-ment-relatedissuestohelpimplementtheSustainableDe- velopmentGoals(SDGs