Developmental Peace? Perceptions of China’s Engagement in Pakistan and Afghanistan [AsiaPeace]

The AsiaPeace project explores local perceptions of China’s dual role as a development actor and aspiring peacebuilder in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its primary objective is to provide new insights about how China deals with conflicts in areas where it engages. Combining analyses of China’s developmental peace approach in the two countries with stakeholders’ perceptions of and responses to it, we will assess the implications of China’s dual role for its neighborhood and beyond. Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s investments and development aid are now spread across over 140 countries. Although China has traditionally claimed to pursue a foreign policy guided by non-interference, BRI projects are increasingly implemented in countries with high levels of conflict and insecurity. This has led China to become more active in peace and security activities abroad in order to protect its investments. Yet, we know little about whether and how China can maintain this approach in countries affected by conflicts or how local stakeholders perceive and respond to China’s engagement. Moreover, studies of the BRI tend to be China-centric, paying limited attention to local perspectives. Through a combination of qualitative methods including field interviews, document analysis, and media monitoring, the team will examine how relevant stakeholders in Pakistan and Afghanistan assess the opportunities and risks presented by China’s investments. The project will last for 45 months and is divided into four parts. The first develops a theoretical framework to analyze China’s approaches to development, peace and conflict in developing countries. The second will uncover the perspectives of local stakeholders in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The third will examine media as an arena for information, advocacy, opposition and repression. The fourth will juxtapose China’s “developmental peace” model with local experiences of China’s engagements in areas of conflict.

Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s investments and development aid are now spread across over 140 countries. Although China has traditionally claimed to pursue a foreign policy guided by non-interference, BRI projects are increasingly implemented in countries with high levels of conflict and insecurity. This has led China to become more active in peace and security activities abroad in order to protect its investments. Its engagement in such activities has so far been characterized as the “developmental peace”. Rooted in the security-development nexus, this is a model of state-led development and economic growth that privileges sovereignty and the legitimacy and stability of the government over political reforms and democratization. Yet, we know little about whether and how China can maintain this hands-off approach in countries affected by conflict and internal tensions or how local stakeholders perceive and respond to China’s engagement. Studies of the BRI tend to be China-centric, paying limited attention to local perspectives. This project examines China’s developmental peace approach in Pakistan and Afghanistan from the perspective of local stakeholders. Given the extent of China’s economic and political interests in westbound trade, as well as its long and complex relations with Pakistan and Afghanistan, China has a pressing need to secure stability in both neighbouring countries. Combining stakeholder interviews and monitoring of traditional and social media, AsiaPeace offers an innovative comparative analysis of how a large-scale foreign presence impacts political, social and conflict dynamics, domestically and geopolitically. The project aims to increase understanding of non-Western approaches to development and peacebuilding among academics and practitioners; and established dialogue between scholars and relevant national and international stakeholders about the opportunities and constraints facing development and peacebuilding.