MANILA, Philippines — China released its first white paper on national security this week amid what Beijing calls “intensifying geopolitics” in the region marked by the deployment of an “intermediate-range missile system.”
The 23-page “China’s National Security in the New Era,” released in Mandarin by the State Council Information Office, outlined the country’s security issues in a region it described as mired in “intensifying geopolitics, hegemonism and the return of Cold War mentality.”
The Chinese government has for years made public its defense white papers, but it’s the first time it has released a national security document that touches on a range of security threats, from maritime and territorial disputes, terrorism, biotechnology, and food security.
Asia-Pacific, the document noted, faces “severe” security challenges amid an escalating international arms race. China claimed “some countries” strengthened military alliances in the region, wooed regional partners, built “small groups,” and deployed military capabilities such as the “intermediate-range missile system.”
While China did not mention any country, the U.S. deployed last year a Typhon missile launcher in the Philippines as part of annual joint exercises between American and Filipino troops under a post-war defense treaty.
Chinese officials have taken the pre-positioning of American military assets in the Philippines as a direct threat and repeatedly urged Manila to withdraw the missile system. The Philippines, however, refused and claimed it has plans to acquire similar systems in the future as part of military modernization.
The presence of the launchers has “aggravated regional tensions,” the white paper read. “Unresolved territorial and maritime rights disputes have become more difficult and complicated … with the intervention of foreign forces.”
China has always frowned upon what it calls the “foreign interference of extra regional powers,” Julio Amador III, founder of geopolitical risk firm Amador Research, told Defense News.
“China probably released this now to low-key accuse the U.S. of being the source of instability, and offering itself as an alternative partner,” Amador said.
The national security white paper was released on the heels of a high-level meeting in Geneva over the weekend, where Chinese and American officials agreed to cut tariffs for 90 days. Negotiations came after the two countries hurled fourfold tariff hikes at each other beginning in early April.
China’s sentiments on the tariff war are reflected in the white paper, which focuses on how some countries disregarded international obligations and imposed tariffs that disrupted the global economic order.
Amid trade uncertainties, China indicated plans to build a free trade zone to be piloted in Hainan, an island province in the South China Sea.
The government also unveiled plans to establish offices to review foreign investments that could impact national security after other countries launched tariff, trade, and technology wars and instigated public opinions against China in the name of security, the document said.
The paper also reiterated a “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan and China’s support in completing a long-debated Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
Despite highlighting multilateral mechanisms in the white paper, Amador said the document may not significantly change China’s positioning or posturing in disputed areas, a bane of contention for Manila which has for decades bemoaned the dissonance between China’s foreign policy declarations and the activities of its People’s Liberation Army Navy ships, coast guard vessels, and fishing flotillas in the South China Sea.
“The white paper should not be taken at face value,” Amador cautioned. He adds that it should be “studied with care, noting where PRC [People’s Republic of China] actions do not match its words, and prepare for any eventualities.”
Leilani Chavez is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. Her reporting expertise is in East Asian politics, development projects, environmental issues and security.
