Description
The People’s Republic of China has become a potent global economic and political force. However, its stance on security in relation to foreign conflicts prompts inquiries into its distinct global security perspective. Recent decades have witnessed numerous upheavals in China’s neighbouring regions, like the 2020 Kyrgyzstan revolution and the 2022 Kazakh protests. China’s reactions to instability in Central Asia offer insights into its approach to resolving foreign crises, the level of external involvement it deems appropriate in national emergencies, and its envisioned role in such scenarios. Testing hypotheses drawn from the literature on autocratic promotion and China’s norm of non-interference, this study employs multi-modal and multi-language qualitative discourse analysis of Chinese government press releases, media coverage, and secondary sources to examine the country’s security responses. The results contribute to the broader debate on how great powers confront instability in their neighbourhood and aims to understand how China’s growing influence reshapes global security governance and impacts the international order.
