Description
This paper aims to analyze how China promotes its own normative preference in global data security governance. The escalated power rivalries between China and the U.S. since the Trump administration have given rise to the question of how to govern digital data security globally, in the broader context of the widespread use of information and communications technology. We draw on the constructivist norm scholarship and analyze China’s norm construction strategies in relation to how to govern data security. The paper will firstly propose a theoretical framework to study China’s role as a norm entrepreneur. Secondly, it will analyze the degree of norm emergence in relation to data security in global governance, by assessing the normative competition between China, the EU and U.S. Thirdly, we will look at the discursive and behavioral strategies that China has adopted to legitimate its normative preference. This is based on the case studies of China’s discursive appeal to “Global Initiative on Data Security” (2020) and behavioral implementation of “Digital Silk Road” (2017-). This paper contributes to the broader interdisciplinary debate of norm contestation and cyber security.
