China's Borderless Expansionism. Could Be a Threat to International Security? (original) (raw)

Abstract

In recent decades, China has established itself as a world economic power. While some Western countries question the leadership of their rulers, and weak governments are created, with little capacity for action, China is the only one of the five world powers that maintains an authoritarian regime, and the Government admits that the establishment of control measures helps to the growth of the country. While it is debated to become the first world power, it is worth asking if the absence of freedoms is one more boost to the development of the Asian country outside its borders. China's strategy is going based on advance quietly, without attracting the attention of other opponents. This advance is aided by controlled public opinion within the borders. While the actions of democratic countries are influenced by the media, in China that does not count. Henry Kissinger in an article published in The Washington Post in the summer of 2009 already announced that “the axis that forms the backbone of the world is no longer the Atlantic”, but the Pacific. Two powers dispute hegemony: that of democracy, although “imperfect” and that of the authoritarian system. There is no doubt that the world is at a crossroads towards something new. In this, it is worth asking if greater democracy is synonymous with more risks. The Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman (1925– 2017) already anticipated it when he said that greater control translates into greater security and balance; while the more freedom a country has, its insecurity increases (Bauman 2006). Are China and the United States within these statements? Will a new world order be possible without a confrontation between them? To what extent do their government structures influence economic expansionism? Asia has long ceased to be the Far East, and its importance is increasingly decisive on the board. The Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman (1925–2017) confronts the concepts of security and freedom. The dilemma applied to the Chinese case has its own connotations, clarifying that it is an exceptional case. The China system supports strong contradictions that make the analysis interesting. While security within its borders has gradually increased, its expansionism abroad has positioned it as an emerging power, and has opened the way to new markets.

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