Security meet in Delhi to focus on China

China will be the focus of the Fifth Asian Security Conference, which will be held in New Delhi next week.

The Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis has invited more than 35 scholars from 32 countries to debate on China.

Minister of External Affairs Yashwant Sinha will inaugurate the three-day seminar, which will begin on January 27 and is titled 'Asian Security and China in 2000-2010'.

"In this seminar we are examining the relation between Asia and China," IDSA Director K Santhanam, the main person behind the endeavour, told rediff.com.

"IDSA is a Track-II organisation. We will be able to discuss China without having a frozen position and without worrying about protocol. It will be a relaxed academic and scholarly discussion about China. We want a better understanding of people, issues and the country. More importantly, this intellectual exercise should enrich the government."

Srikanth Kondapalli, a research fellow at the IDSA and an expert on China, told rediff.com, "There is a massive interest in how China evolves. There are many changes taking place in China, mainly in military arena, foreign policy arena and economy arena."

Kondapalli will speak on 'China's Military Capabilities, 2000-2010' at the seminar. He said China is important because it is a member of the P5 group. "In West Asia, Kosovo and even in Latin America China is becoming a force. All the South Asian countries are having vibrant interactions with the Chinese."

"By 2010, a Free trade Zone will come up in ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] region. In 2005, China will fully join the World Trade Organisation. Its banking, insurance and such sectors will be globalised. China has maintained a growth of 6-8 per cent for quite some time. It has a $450 billion trade with various countries. China's economy will be restructured in the coming years. Income inequality is increasing in China. The Olympics will be [held in China] in 2008. The concept of regional autonomy will evolve in the greater China region and Taiwan. We want to know what will be China's response to all these events," he said.

"Also, in military field there is an uncertainty in Asia in terms of many territorial claims of China. In Sinkiang, Tibet and Mongolia China is facing either terrorism or a separatist movement," he added.

The seminar will have scores of academicians who have written books and papers on China.

US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill will speak on 'Overview of Asian Security: An American Perspective'.

From China there will be five scholars. Dr Fang Jinying, author of The Emergence and Development of Ethnic Chinese Problem in South East Asia, will speak on 'China's Response to Global Campaign Against Terrorism'.

Dr Fang works at the China Institute for Contemporary International Relations in Beijing.

Professor Xu Jian, a senior fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, will present a paper on 'New Challenges, New Approaches: Unconventional Security Threats & Regional Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific'.

Han Hua of the Beijing University, an expert on Sino-Indian relations, will speak on 'China-Southern Asia Relations'.

Dr Zheng Yuxin, Deputy Director, Institute of Quantitative & Technical Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, will speak on 'China's Environmental Policies'.

Another speaker will be India's former ambassador to China and convenor of the National Security Advisory Board C V Ranganathan.

The process of economic liberalisation in China will be discussed in a special session called 'Economic Reforms and Asian Security'.

But no debate on China is complete without a mention of Taiwan and Tibet.

Dr Arthur Ding will speak on 'Chinese Military Modernisation: Response to BMD Issues'. Dr Ding is the Director of Research Division III, Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University, Taiwan.

Professor Parris H Chang of the Institute for Political, Economic & Strategic Studies, Taipei, will speak on 'Northeast Asian Security and Taiwan'.

Author Vijay Kranti will speak on Tibet's ethnic identities.

Dr Dru C Gladney will speak on 'Sinkiang's Present Challenges & Future Prospects: Border Security and Ethnic Identity'.

Some of the others who will attend the event are Dr Desmond Ball [Australia] Dr Andrey Kokushin [Russia], Professor Harry Harding [the US], Dr Yitzhak Schichor [Israel], Dr Mahammed Selim [Egypt] and Professor Valerie Niquet [France].

Dr Abdul Karim Al-Dukhayyil of the King Faud University of Saudi Arabia will speak on his country's relation with China.

And Dr Michael Pillsbury, Department of Defence, US, will speak on 'China's Strategic Outlook'.

Scholars from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan and Sweden will also participate.

Former IDSA researcher Dr Ramchandran will speak on Indo-China relations.

Defence Minister George Fernandes will participate in the closing session.

Asked if China would be edgy about such an open debate, Santhanam, who will present a paper on ‘Micro-electronics Industry in China', said, "I don't think there is any edginess or touchiness on part of China with this kind of scholarly interactions. China has changed enormously from 1978 onwards. It is a major economic player and a potential superpower."

"China got its freedom in 1949. Increasingly, China is feeling less threatened about outside forces… China is engaging the world in a stronger, longer and firmer way," he said.