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When the Local Returns

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Norms, Storytelling and International Institutions in China

Part of the book series: St Antony's Series ((STANTS))

Abstract

Built on the preliminary observations from the narration of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), I use the case studies of trilateral cooperation projects and the International Poverty Reduction Centre in China (IPRCC) in order to explain how local development norms are translated back to the global and in other localities. Instead of simply consolidating or challenging the global norms, different versions of China’s development experience containing its universality and particularity are formed at the same time. Elements and contents that are usually not defined as local normative preferences, such as notions of democracy and community participation, are added beneath the canopy of the “Chinese experience” and therefore reinforce the global normative status quo, while local preferences on prioritising state-led economic growth are absorbed into the international development discourse.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The narration and learning of the China model in other countries focuses on its reform success and economic growth. The term “China Model ” itself originated in Romania’s commentaries on China’s post-communist transition, and was picked up by the Chinese official newspaper People’s Daily in 1991 (Bandurski and Hala 2010). More recently, China serves as the example for alternative development paths by developing countries, especially among African states, see in Kernen’s ongoing project on the socialisation of the China Model at the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development at http://www.r4d.ch/modules/thematically-open-research/new-global-powers-in-africa

  2. 2.

    This was mentioned in Xi Jinping’s speech at the opening ceremony of the Communist Party of China in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting in Beijing on Dec 1, 2017, titled “Xieshou Jianshe Gengjia Meihaode Shijie” [“Building a Better World Hand-in-Hand”].

  3. 3.

    The difficulties in summarising a unique China Model were also stressed by UNDP officials, as “there is no difference from other East Asian countries, with their strong and technical governments, and result-based and top-down approach” (Interview, 27 November 2017).

  4. 4.

    For detailed discussion on China’s norm in peace and development, see Lei, Xue. China as a Permanent Member of the United Nation Security Council. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Global Policy and Development, 2014. He Yin. 2017. Developmental Peace: Chinese Approach to UN Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding. The Journal of International Studies. Li Dongyan. 2018. International Peacekeeping Operations: Chinese Concept and Framework, World Economics and Politics, April 2018. It should be noted that in He Xin’s original formulation, the norm developmental peace is not in a replacement role for the liberal peace paradigm, yet the mutually supplementary relationship of the two norms becomes weakened in the discussion that follows.

  5. 5.

    Lim and Bergin (2018) explored the campaign to “tell China’s story well” through the worldwide purchases of media outlets and journalist training programmes by state-run actors, which show another layer of this political campaign.

  6. 6.

    Xi Jinping’s speech at the BRI Forum for International Cooperation, 14 May 2017.

  7. 7.

    When the BRI was first mentioned in the UN Security Council in the resolution to extend the assistance mission in Afghanistan, for instance, peace and security were taken as means to ensure a secure environment for connectivity cooperation and trade agreements along the BRI region (UN Resolution 2344, 2017).

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  1. School of International Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Xiaoyu Lu

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Lu, X. (2021). When the Local Returns. In: Norms, Storytelling and International Institutions in China. St Antony's Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56707-1_7

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