China's International Cooperation In Non-traditional Security And Its Strategy Suggestion

Since the end of the Cold War, non-traditional security issues have increasingly emerged as important issues which, combined with traditional security threats, threatens national security as well as the survival and development of human beings more directly. Non-traditional security threats are changing the traditional concept of security. Because of the fact that no any single country has the ability to solve the complicated security issues by its own force, all the countries in the world should cooperate with each other in a wide range of areas to set up an international security cooperation system. As a developing power in the world, China also faces all kinds of non-traditional security threats. To pursue international cooperation in the non-traditional security issues, which meets the national interests of China, has important theoretical and pragmatic implications to the efforts of maintaining the peace and security in the world as well as the efforts of creating a good international security environment for China's economic and social development.I.Non-traditional security threats after the Cold WarAfter the Cold War, non-traditional security issues emerge as both a new problem and a new concept, which invites concerns from the international society and the academics, who thereafter suggest their concepts of non-traditional security. There are three causes for the development: the direct influence of the changing power structure in the international society after the Cold War, the side effects of economic globalization, and the changes in the security concepts.As a concept compared with that of traditional security, non-traditional security refers mainly to the transnational issues, which rise from non-political and non-military factors, and affect directly, or even threaten, the development, security and stability of a nation, a region, and/or the globe. Non-traditional security also refers to the new security concept and the new research area in security, which is related with the non-traditional security issues.Non-traditional security has broadened the meanings and coverage of the security issues from national security issues to the human security and social security, from the high-politic issues such as political security and military security to the low-politic security issues such as economic, social, and environmental issues. The concept of non-traditional security regards national security as the core and principal part of the security, while economic, social and environmental security issues play as important roles as political and military security issues.Non-traditional security issues cover all the fields in a society, including energy security, environmental security, ecological security, financial security, the security in the Internet, the security of information, the security of public health, and the security of culture, etc. In order to avoid the concept of security issues from being inappropriately adopted, it should be an important criterion for the definition of the non-traditional security issues if a certain issue is a real and/or potential threat to the development of a country, or a region, or the world.The emergence of non-traditional security issues has threatened seriously the national security. Firstly, non-traditional security issues are the most direct security problems that all countries are facing today. Secondly, non-traditional security issues threaten the security of all the factors that a country consists of. Thirdly, non-traditional security issues might lead to conflicts and disputes among countries.II.China's cooperation with the international society in non-traditional securityAfter the Cold War, China has also been facing the non-traditional security threats. Under the new situation, Chinese government has suggested and consummated Comprehensive National Security Concept, a new security concept with Chinese characteristics. The Concept emphasizes that security should be a comprehensive security covering all fields including military, economy, culture, environment and etc. The Concept also emphasizes that international cooperation is the final way to reach the comprehensive security. The Concept argues for a global security on the basis of equality, which is connected with common interests of different countries.To make an analysis, China's new security concept has the following characteristics:Firstly, it emphasizes that the major factor, which threatens the global peace and stability in today, is still hegemony and power politics. Secondly, it emphasizes the important role of international cooperation. Thirdly, it emphasizes the necessary of mutual trust among countries in order to pursue for win-to-win results. Fourthly, it emphasizes the importance of national sovereignty.Due to their harms to the society, economic security issues, terrorist threats, ecological and environmental security issues and transnational organized crimes are the most serious non-traditional security threats that China is now facing. Facing the non-traditional security threats, China should attach great importance to international cooperation and deal with non-traditional security issues by conducting different kinds of cooperation with the international society.III.Problems in the international cooperation in non-traditional security and China's countermeasuresNo one should undervalue the harms of non-traditional security threats to the international peace and security, mainly due to the complexity and non-typicality of the non-traditional security threats. The complexity and non-typicality of non-traditional security is reflected by the wide coverage of non-traditional security threats, the uncertainty of their roots, the possibility of non-traditional security threats to be changed, and the fact that different non-traditional security threats in different fields may influence one another.The complexity of non-traditional security threats decides that only the international cooperation is the way to solve non-traditional security issues. However there are several problems in the international security cooperation in dealing with non-traditional security issues. Firstly, countries in the world have a distinct difference in the recognition to the importance of solving the non-traditional security issues, because those countries are at different levels of social and economic development and they have different understandings on the coverage of the international cooperation in non-traditional security issues. Secondly, countries in the world have different views on the depth of the international cooperation in the non-security issues. Thirdly, countries in the world have different views on the forms of the international cooperation in dealing with the non-traditional security threats. In other words, they have different views on if they should cooperate under the leadership of a certain country, or on the basis of equality.Facing the complexity of non-traditional security issues and the several structural problems within the international cooperation, China should consider about its countermeasures in both the domestic and international aspects with the major purpose of remaining national interests.In the domestic aspect, China should firstly decide its priority of national interests and keep a close eye on the major contradiction during its dealing with the non-traditional security threats. Secondly, China should strengthen its comprehensive national power in order to improve its ability of dealing with non-traditional security threats. Thirdly, China should conduct further reforms on the basis of human rights in order to construct a harmonious society and to guarantee the interests of the people as much as possible.In the international aspect, firstly China should strengthen and broaden its cooperation with the international society, and choose appropriate forms of cooperation at different levels in different fields. Secondly, China should do its best to make changes in the issues that are not appropriate to the international prevention mechanism in order to prevent the emergence of new non-traditional security threats. Thirdly, China should actively advocate for a multi-polar world, promote an equally development of the world economy, and improve the harmony between the human development and the natural environment. China should avoid more and further contradictions and crisis which may rise from the over-inequality in the international political order, the extreme unbalance in the world economic development, and the serious conflicts between the human development and the natural environment.