BOOK REVIEWS

Stefan Friedrich, China und die Europäische Union: Europas weltpolitische Rolle aus chinesischer Sicht

The focus of Stefan Friedrich’s book on China-EU relations, which is a revised version of his doctoral thesis from the University of Heidelberg, is revealed in its subtitle: Europe’s role in world politics from a Chinese perspective. Friedrich’s aim is to analyse Sino-European relations from a Chinese perspective, i.e. how China’s foreign policy is perceived from an “inner” Chinese standpoint rather than from an “outer” European one. The theoretical framework of perception research was first applied to China by David Shambaugh in his work on Chinese-American relations in 1987. Shambaugh demonstrates that the Chinese perception of the US is actually determined by “articulated perceptions” of a small non-Marxist “influential elite” located at some of China’s government think tanks (see below). Friedrich further modifies Shambaugh’s framework (pp. 39-43) by distinguishing between “articulated perceptions” and “actual perceptions”. He argues that opinions articulated in journals and other sources do not necessarily represent the true cognitive beliefs (“actual perceptions”) of the respective authors as the major political think tanks in China are not independent research institutes but part of and serving the political apparatus. Friedrich’s approach seems to be more than plausible but remains rather speculative and murky. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem particularly exciting: I would rather take it for granted that anyone who is remotely familiar with Chinese politics would take the current political context under which political analysts at government research institutes are operating into careful consideration and not necessarily equate an author’s published opinion with his/her true beliefs.

Friedrich’s study covers the period from the 1981-95 when important changes in Chinese foreign policy took place. In the early eighties, China eventually abandoned the theory-driven approach to foreign policy (such as the “Three Worlds Theory” adopted in 1974) and replaced it by reliance on some high-profile foreign policy research institutes. Friedrich devotes Part I ( pp. 49-87) of his book to background information on the role of political research institutes in political decision making. He gives a detailed and insightful description of the structure, research focus, staff and publications of the three research institutes on which his study is based, namely the Chinese Institute for International Studies, Chinese Institute for Contemporary International Relations and the Europe Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Friedrich’s point that these journals are party publications rather than scientific journals—in spite of relatively little ideological ballast—is more than convincing.

In Part II (pp. 93-174), Friedrich presents the material he analyses, firstly, with respect to the development of the Chinese global perception (Chapter 4), and secondly, with respect to the development of China’s perception of the European Union (Chapter 5). The Chinese perception of the international arena is divided into five different phases (trends) which are mainly determined by China’s perception of the superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. Between 1993-95 China is seeing multipolarity as the dominant trend in the new world order, and, consequently, the European Union starts being seen as an increasingly important player on the global scene with increasing importance for China.

Chapter 5 is a thorough and resourceful description of the development of China’s EU-perception. It is interesting to follow that the choice of topics and their interpretation depend on Chinese internal developments rather than on developments within the EU. Not surprisingly, the deterioration of relations between the European Union and China after June 4th 1989 is not mentioned at all. Due to its economic success and Europe’s comparative economic weakness, China is becoming increasingly confident as shown in the recommendation that Europe should build closer links with China to solve its crisis (p.159). As for EU-internal issues, China’s Europe watchers are driven by pragmatic considerations: The focus is on those European experiences which might be applicable to the Chinese reform process, e.g. agricultural reforms.

In the third part of the book (pp. 181-239; Chapters 6 and 7), Friedrich presents his analysis of the investigated material within the theoretical framework of “articulated perception”. He argues convincingly that the Chinese perception of the European Union is not driven by the developments within the European Union but within China. Political analysts do not aim at giving an accurate account of EU policy. Their “articulated perceptions” can only be understood if the political situation and power balance in China is taken into account. Furthermore, Friedrich shows that the theory of “articulated perceptions is not foreign to Chinese tradition. The concept of tianxia—the sinocentric vision of the world in which the civilised world is identical with the Chinese empire’s sphere of influence—is influencing today’s “articulated perceptions”.

Friedrich’s book is a thorough and insightful study of China-EU relations that combines resourcefulness with theoretical depth. It will certainly contribute to an understanding of China’s relationship with the European Union and of Chinese foreign policy in general.