Conflict prevention in the 21st century
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 4, 2016
ANNEX 3: Partnerships in Conflict Prevention: China and the UK
Project update: Issue 1
The Partnerships in Conflict Prevention project aims to foster engagement and increase understanding between the Chinese and UK policy communities on ways to prevent violent conflict and promote stability overseas. This project update (Issue 1) focuses on the first CPWG workshop and the related meetings and seminars that the CPWG participated in during the two days that followed.
Background
Given their common interests, opportunities exist for heightened engagement between the UK and China on promoting stability overseas. However, dialogue towards this goal is often overshadowed by contentious debates surrounding the use of military force and the long-standing principles of Chinese foreign policy, in particular respect of state sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Focusing on conflict prevention may prove a more fruitful avenue for UK-China dialogue. However, conflict prevention remains a relatively undeveloped area of foreign policy within China and there appears to be limited discussion of how China's economic role overseas, alongside other tools such as diplomacy and mediation, can be proactively leveraged to prevent conflicts before they reach a crisis stage. There is also room for improved understanding of Chinese approaches to conflict-affected and fragile states among key actors within the UK. Saferworld has commenced a two-year project to help address these gaps through a process of engagement with the Chinese and UK policy communities. This is facilitated by a CPWG.
The CPWG is composed of three Chinese and three UK experts on conflict prevention. It provides the structural foundations for the project and has been designed to operationalise the project by sharing the members' knowledge and expertise, facilitating dialogue and discussion amongst both the Chinese and UK policy communities, and by stimulating debate about potential future avenues for co-operation between China and the UK. The CPWG will work collaboratively to increase awareness and expertise on different approaches to conflict prevention and to promote dialogue on conflict prevention and related issues within the Chinese and UK policy communities.
The CPWG will meet for a total of five workshops and related meetings, and two high-level policy seminars over a two-year period. Following each meeting, Saferworld will publish an update to share the major discussions and findings. The introductory events reported on here provided the CPWG with an overview of the UK and China's approaches to conflict prevention, and explored some case studies of how the UK and China have recently engaged in conflict prevention.
Introducing the CPWG and approaches to conflict prevention within China and the UK
The CPWG met for the first time in September 2014. Activities commenced in London with the first of a series of CPWG workshops. This first workshop served to introduce the project, its members and various approaches to conflict prevention. It was framed around three main themes: upstream conflict prevention (i.e. addressing the root drivers of fragility and conflict), early warning and crisis response. Presentations were given on each of these themes introducing both the UK's and China's policies and practices. The themes were initially derived from the UK Government's conflict prevention policy, as outlined in its 2011 BSOS.
The aim was not to benchmark China's policies and practices against the UK's policies, or to present the UK's approach as superior or without fault. Instead, it served as a useful tool to facilitate comparison of the UK and China's respective approaches to conflict. Indeed, the Chinese government has publicly acknowledged the importance of these three pillars in conflict prevention, as highlighted in a recent statement by Ambassador Liu Jieyi47in August 2014 at the UNSC Open Debate on Maintenance of International Peace and Security.
The CPWG members discussed the increasing securitization of conflict prevention and agreed that the world is currently experiencing an era of change. New methods need to be devised to help promote collaborative responses. The CPWG recommended that action must not be prescriptive; that the international community should be supportive of each other's efforts towards conflict prevention; and that efforts should be made to reinvigorate the concept of human security and revitalize the notion of responsibility to protect.
The CPWG members voiced their expectations to be able, over the course of the project, to identify areas of common ground in British and Chinese policies on conflict prevention, and to help translate this into effective cooperation that can make a tangible difference to people living in conflict-affected and fragile states. A number of similarities between the two countries' approaches were highlighted. It was argued that both China and the UK aspire to support greater UN effectiveness, but could do more to contribute to the UN; both prioritize conflict-sensitivity, acknowledging conflict drivers and addressing the root causes of conflict; and both face similar challenges around conflict prevention. However, ideological differences between the two countries were also highlighted, as was the need to bridge this divide. The CPWG identified China's priorities in conflict affected and fragile states as capacity building, infrastructure support and economic development, whilst the UK was seen to place more emphasis on state-building, good governance and human rights. It was stated that the interests of both countries are however beginning to coalesce as China begins to prioritize stability over economic development. The attitudes towards the role of NGOs in conflict prevention processes were also acknowledged as an important difference, and it was suggested that China could learn from the UK in this regard. It was argued that whilst both China and the UK recognize the need to address African concerns and that action must not be prescriptive, the approaches vary somewhat. China generally adopts the stance of providing what Africa says it needs, whilst the UK, some working group members argued, is more inclined to first expose as many options as possible to African states with a view to gaining support in their decision-making process.
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