[EAI Special Report] The Future of US-China Competition and South Korea's Strategy II_① Norms Competition Between the US and China: Human Rights and Democracy, and South Korea's Response

Editor's Note

In this Special Report, Kim Heon-jun, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University, analyzes the strategies of the US and China in the realm of norms and presents a short- to medium-term outlook based on the US presidential election, along with South Korea's response. The author suggests that as the US and China clash over norms of human rights and democracy, South Korea should consistently pursue universal and international principles and prioritize multilateralism over bilateral relations with either country.

※ The following is an excerpt. Please refer to the attached file above for the full text.

I. Introduction: US-China Relations and Norms Competition

Since 2010, the most significant factor in international relations has been the US-China relationship, and the 2010s have been characterized by competition and conflict between the two nations across various sectors. Particularly since Xi Jinping's ascent, China has adopted a more assertive and resolute stance in diplomatic, economic, and military spheres in Asia and globally, demonstrating its potential and willingness to challenge the US-led world order. In response, despite theories of decline, the United States continues to exert international influence in multiple domains, including politics, economics, military, and culture. This manifested as overt, multi-faceted pressure on China under Trump's "America First" agenda. The relationship between the two countries deteriorated significantly during the Xi and Trump eras, evidenced by issues such as China's construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea and US freedom of navigation operations, China's threats against the US destroyer Decatur and P-8 reconnaissance aircraft, trade disputes and ongoing negotiations, the Huawei incident, and debates over democracy and human rights surrounding the Hong Kong protests and the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly exacerbated the already strained bilateral relations, with disputes over the virus's origin, transparency in information disclosure, accountability, demands for national compensation, and contributions to the World Health Organization.

This paper focuses on the realm of norms (values and ideologies) among the various points of conflict. In international relations, norms are defined as collective expectations that states have about what constitutes appropriate behavior in international politics (Katzenstein 1996, 5). Since China's incorporation into the modern international order in the 19th century, there has always been an exchange, competition, and conflict of norms between China and Western powers. After World War II, this interaction primarily manifested in US-China relations. During the Cold War, the two countries competed internationally over norms concerning non-alignment, humanitarian intervention, international aid, the New International Economic Order, nuclear non-proliferation, human rights, sovereignty, nationalism, development, and arms control. After the end of the Cold War, they have competed and confronted each other over norms related to the responsibility to protect, UN Security Council reform, development cooperation (official development assistance), disaster response, climate change, counter-terrorism, human rights, democracy, development models, anti-corruption, and macroeconomic policies. While this dynamic has primarily played out between the US and China, China has also engaged with major European powers such as the UK, Germany, and France in various sectors. Their interactions often mirrored the patterns of US-China competition or conflict, but Europe, emphasizing dialogue and engagement, sometimes adopted a different approach.

The relationship between norms and military, political, diplomatic, and strategic affairs was already discussed in Robert Jervis's "Perception and Misperception in International Politics" in 1976 (Jervis 1976). Norms belong to the domain of "sense of oughtness" or "logic of appropriateness," concerning legitimacy, legality, and morality. As seen in the immense influence of nationalism as a belief system in the 19th century, the power of legitimacy, which transcends rationality, is potent and enduring. For the same reason, Modelski argued that delegitimation precedes deconcentration, which is a substantive transition in the change of world leadership (Modelski 1987). Interestingly, Jervis cited early Cold War US-China relations as an example where issues of legitimacy generated hostility, a major cause of war. The US deemed China's decision to intervene in the Korean War as lacking legitimacy, subsequently viewing China as a belligerent adversary. Judgments based on legitimacy are closely linked to other domains, such as military and security, through the pursuit of consistency (Jervis 1976, 121). Therefore, norms competition between the US and China can expand and reproduce trade/technology competition, which stems from interests, into a dimension of legitimacy conflict, ultimately triggering military/security conflicts.

Given the broad scope of norms (values and ideologies), this paper focuses on human rights and democracy, which are closely interconnected. Human rights and democracy have been issues of sharp confrontation between the two countries since the Cold War. The 1989 Tiananmen Square incident is a prime example, but sharp conflicts have occurred before and after this event, continuing to the present. Even before the Tiananmen Square incident, the US had urged China to improve its human rights and democracy, concerning policies towards ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, freedom of religion, and freedom of academic and conscience. At the same time, China vehemently criticized the US Civil Rights Movement, racial discrimination and inequality, and massacres during the Indochina Wars. Currently, the two countries have exchanged accusations regarding China's strict control policies in Xinjiang Uyghur, the large-scale crackdown on demands for democratization in Hong Kong, racial tensions in the US (Black Lives Matter), and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, including social security policies and infection control. Furthermore, human rights and democracy are closely linked to other norms over which the two countries are in conflict, such as the responsibility to protect, development models, economic policies, and anti-corruption. Therefore, by examining the conflict patterns surrounding human rights and democracy, one can understand and anticipate the interactions of other norms.

This paper is structured as follows: First, before examining the strategies of the US and China, it clarifies and addresses two common misconceptions regarding US-China norms competition. Second, it examines the US strategy, beginning with an overview of its overall strategy and then analyzing specific instances where norms-related strategies were employed during the Xi and Trump administrations. Third, it examines China's strategy in the realm of norms in a similar fashion. Historically, there is an imbalance of knowledge, with the US having a long tradition of norms-related diplomacy, unlike China. For this reason, slightly more space is allocated to China's strategy, which is less well-known and researched, compared to the more extensively studied US strategy. Finally, it presents a short- to medium-term outlook based on the US presidential election and suggests policies South Korea can adopt within the US-China competitive framework, along with the rationale for these policies.

■ Author: Kim Heon-jun_ Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University. He graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Diplomacy and received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). He served as a visiting assistant professor at St. Olaf College and an associate professor at Griffith University. His main research areas include international norms and institutions, and international human rights and ethics. His recent books and edited volumes include "The Politics of Peaceful Power Transition" (2015, co-authored), "The Massacres at Mt Halla: Sixty Years of Truth-Seeking in South Korea" (Cornell University Press, 2014), and "Transitional Justice in the Asia Pacific" (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

■ Management and Editing: Baek Jin-kyung EAI Research Fellow and Head of Research

Inquiries: 02 2277 1683 (ext. 209) j.baek@eai.or.kr

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