The periphery is an important support for China's foreign strategy and an important link to achieve peaceful development. The surrounding situation directly affects China's security interests, which is related to the country's peaceful development and the realization of the strategic opportunity period. China's international strategic environment, in addition to the relationship between major powers, the surrounding situation and the strategic choice of relevant countries are also an important aspect.
After the end of the Cold War, there was no real war or armed conflict between China and neighboring countries, and China no longer faced major realistic military threats around its territory. After entering the 2 1 century, the political structure around China has undergone profound and complicated changes and is generally stable. The factors that are conducive to peace and stability are further enhanced, while the factors that are not conducive to peace and stability still exist and sometimes intensify, showing the obvious characteristics of coexistence of opportunities and challenges.
China has a vast territory, bordering the Pacific Ocean in the east, the hinterland of Asia in the west, and neighboring Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Central Asia. The political pattern around China presents horizontal differences and vertical variations. From the four directions of east, south, west and north, the surrounding environment also presents different trends, which can be roughly summarized as "stability in the north and harmony in the south, tightness in the east and movement in the west". From the geographical direction of land and sea, the surrounding environment is quite different, which can be roughly summarized as "the land is stable and the sea is moving, and the land is slow and the sea is tight". That is, the land environment tends to be mild obviously, while the marine environment tends to be tense and severe. After entering the 2 1 century, the surrounding political pattern of China is still "slow land and tight sea".
The development of the political structure around China can be specifically analyzed from the following eight aspects:
I. Korean Peninsula
In Northeast Asia, the development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula has always affected the interests of big countries and regional peace and development. The Korean peninsula has important strategic and geographical significance and is the intersection of the interests of major powers. The strategic choices of the two countries on the peninsula will interact and influence each other with the factors of great powers. Although both North Korea and South Korea are trying their best to seek reunification, the conflict of ideas and interests between the two sides has led to a situation of seeking reunification unanimously but persisting in confrontation. In recent years, various exchanges and cooperation between the two sides have gradually taken substantial steps, and the development of DPRK-ROK relations has become the general trend. In dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue, the United States has come to understand that holding multilateral talks is the best way to seek a package solution. However, China plays an important role in the Six-Party Talks, which shows that a developing China can bring peace and stability to the region. Our country not only persuaded North Korea to give up nuclear weapons and return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but also persuaded the United States to give up the idea of attacking North Korea by force and let North Korea have the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy. Generally speaking, the situation on the peninsula at the beginning of the new century will still present a complicated and changeable development trend. Only with the support of big countries such as China and the United States, can the north and south sides of the peninsula truly move towards reconciliation and achieve substantive results.
Second, Japan.
As the second largest economic power in the world, Japan is currently in the process of transformation, and its trend will directly affect China's eastern security. However, in recent years, Japan has stepped up its search for a political power or a "normal country" in its foreign policy, strengthened its Japan-US alliance, and upgraded its actions to prevent and contain China, which has brought Japan-China relations into a trough. Junichiro Koizumi's tough attitude towards neighboring countries, especially China, has seriously affected regional stability, and his wrong attitude on historical issues has also caused dissatisfaction among many Asian countries. The Diaoyu Islands issue has also aggravated the contradiction between China and Japan on the East China Sea issue. Although our government has adopted a rational and responsible attitude from the overall situation, with the development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of its international status, contradictions and frictions are inevitable in the process of repositioning Sino-Japanese relations. Even if Abe's China policy is eased, the friendly development of Sino-Japanese relations still has a long way to go. In addition, Japan-US security alliance has been redefined, and the main targets for prevention are North Korea and China. After entering the 2 1 century, Japan has continuously broken through the restrictions on sending troops overseas and expanded the scope of military support to the United States. The strengthening of Japan's will and ability to intervene overseas will become a potential threat to East Asia and a hidden danger of Sino-Japanese conflict.
Third, the United States
In the surrounding political structure of China, the United States is the most influential big country factor, and it is also the country that poses the greatest threat to China. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were the most important factors influencing China's periphery. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, its successor, Russia, retreated to the north of China, and the United States, as the only superpower in the world, further increased its influence on the surrounding pattern of China, becoming the most important external factor. The influence of the United States is all-round in geographical distribution, fundamental in nature, serious in degree and long-term in time. The influence of the United States is also diverse in means and ways. First, it maintains a direct military presence; The second is to develop military cooperation with neighboring countries in China; Third, intervene and intervene in regional hot issues and crises. Of course, the current threats of the United States to the security around China are mostly indirect and potential, and its China policy has obvious two sides. While containing China, it also engaged in "contact" and cooperation with China. Constructive cooperation between China and the United States can restrain or delay to some extent, but it cannot fundamentally eliminate the threat of the United States to China.
Four. Central Asia
Central Asia is facing the impact of the color revolution, and the national political situation is turbulent. Central Asia is adjacent to the western border of China and has an important strategic position since ancient times. As the rising countries after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the five Central Asian countries are geographically located in the heart of the mainland, and are the buffer zones and intersection areas of political forces of big countries and regions. Economically, it is rich in natural resources. Culturally, Central Asia is a combination of Islamic civilization, Christian civilization and Confucian civilization. Since Putin took office as Russian president, the strategic relationship between the five Central Asian countries and Russia has been strengthened. Judging from the trend of foreign relations of Central Asian countries, Russia will remain the first choice for Central Asian countries for a long time to come. After the independence of the five countries, they also adopted a welcome attitude towards the Central Asian affairs of the United States, hoping to strengthen ties with the United States, use American investment and political support to get rid of the economic crisis, realize the balance of various forces in Central Asia, and ensure regional stability. Although the influence and military power of the United States in Central Asia are constantly strengthening, it is not enough to challenge Russia's dominant position. China has long-term good-neighborly relations with Central Asian countries, and should continue to maintain good relations and become long-term political, economic and trade partners to ensure the stability of border areas.
Verb (abbreviation for verb) Russia
The geographical direction of the north of China is only two neighboring countries: Russian and Mongolian. In recent years, the situation in the Russian Far East and Mongolia has been relatively stable, and there are no major real hot spots and security risks. At the same time, the good-neighborly and friendly relations between China and Russia are in good condition and will not waver in the near future. Therefore, the political structure of this region is relatively stable and has certain continuity. Since Putin came to power, Russia's national strength has obviously improved, its economy has grown rapidly, and the pace of military revival has accelerated. In foreign policy, Russia's geopolitics as a big country in Europe and Asia determines the balance of its foreign policy, and implements the Eurasian double eagle diplomacy. In the west, the diplomatic focus is on the CIS region, and a "road map agreement for the future" has been signed with the EU. Although there are fundamental contradictions and differences with the United States, there will be no direct conflict and confrontation in the short term. In the East, strengthen all-round political, economic and military relations with China and actively participate in the North Korean nuclear issue. Sino-Russian relations are also developing in depth, not only solving territorial disputes, but also having major cooperation in economy, energy and electricity. The joint military exercise between the two countries also shows that the military cooperation between the two countries has entered a new stage, which reflects the political cooperation between the two countries and lays the foundation for regional security and stability.
The intransitive verb South Asia
In South Asia, the India-Pakistan conflict has a long history, which is a comprehensive and long-term contradiction and dispute including territorial, ethnic, religious and weapons disputes. Since the partition of India in 1947, two of the three large-scale wars between the two sides have been related to Kashmir, and the territorial dispute in this region has always been the focus of debate between the two sides. Under the influence of internal and external factors, the formal talks between India and Pakistan in recent years reflect that the thinking mode of both sides has changed from pursuing military settlement to peace talks, but the danger of another conflict in Kashmir still exists in the future. For a long time, India has focused most of its energy on confrontation with Pakistan, ignoring other affairs, thus limiting its influence mainly to South Asia. With the development of Indian economy, especially after possessing nuclear weapons, India has regarded itself as a real world power. Although its bundled entry scheme has become a waste case, it has clearly demonstrated India's determination. As a regional power, India's status is rising, its international influence is also increasing, and Sino-Indian relations have been greatly improved and developed. The economic and trade relations between the two sides are gradually expanding. Both China and India are committed to economic development and both need good neighbors Huaning. Common interests will determine that the two countries will maintain close relations for a long time to come. The friendly relations between China and Pakistan will be maintained for a long time, and the relations between the two countries will continue to develop. China's relations with South Asia will enter a new stage.
Seven. Southeast Asia
The importance of Southeast Asian countries' foreign strategy to the relations between major powers is first reflected in their geographical position. A basic feature of Southeast Asian countries' foreign strategy is to rely on regional alliances. Affected by political turmoil and terrorism, the economies of ASEAN countries have been hit, overseas markets have shrunk, foreign capital inflows have decreased, and tourism has declined. How to achieve domestic political stability and economic recovery has become a major issue facing ASEAN countries. ASEAN can be said to be a strategic fulcrum for the rise of China. China's responsible performance in the financial crisis has promoted new progress in the relations between ASEAN countries and China. In the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, China extended a helping hand and showed the image of a responsible big country to the world with practical actions. The initiation of the process of establishing a free trade zone and China's accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia have brought the economic cooperation and political mutual trust between China and ASEAN to a new level. Although there are sovereignty disputes between China and some ASEAN countries, they are generally stable and controllable. Both sides have economic competition and political and strategic interests. The relationship between the two sides will be further deepened and closer on the basis of the past, and the content and level of cooperation will reach a new level.
Eight. The real threat of terrorism
In recent years, the continuous development of terrorism in the surrounding areas of China poses a serious threat to the construction of a stable surrounding political structure in China. Afghanistan and Central Asia were once important bases and places for international terrorism, national separatism and religious extremism. After the United States launched the war in Afghanistan, the "three forces" suffered heavy losses, but they did not stop. They are still secretly accumulating strength and creating new terrorist attacks from time to time. In Southeast Asia, the local Islamic radical forces colluded with Al Qaeda to create a series of terrorist attacks, which has become a real threat to the security of Southeast Asia. In South Asia, India, Pakistan and other countries, terrorist activities have also seen new development momentum. Due to the geographical connection or proximity, and the international mobility and proliferation of terrorism, the spread and development of terrorism in the surrounding areas will inevitably have an impact on China, thus endangering the security and stability of China. Resolutely combating terrorism is an important means for China to maintain the surrounding political structure.
From this point of view, the overall political situation around China is good, and some areas are turbulent. Only by being kind to neighbors can we achieve common prosperity and development, and only by implementing the foreign policy of "being kind to neighbors and being partners" and the foreign policy of "being kind to neighbors and making peace rich" can we achieve long-term stability. However, we should also pay attention to the surrounding unstable factors and hidden dangers of intensified contradictions, and eliminate all obstacles to peaceful development.