India and China

Building Strategic Trust

Rajiv Narayanan, Qiu Yonghui

• Publisher: VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9789389620023
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: International Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

By the early 21st century with the rise of China economies of East Asia and India, the prognosis of a strong Asia showed promise. The Indo - Pacific Region (essentially Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean) deservedly came to be recognised as the new 'Centre of Gravity' in the evolving world economic order. Asian states have exhibited leadership in a range of significant areas, such as economics, diplomacy, military power, science & technology, innovation, and soft power thus adding traction to the notion of 'Asia Century' of shared prosperity and common destiny. Under this overarching geo-strategic environment, it is imperative that the two most populous and growing economic powers, India and China, move towards achieving consensus, co-operation and strategic trust rather than compete and contest. However, since the tumultuous border war of 1962, there exists a deep distrust of each other's motives across the Himalayan barriers. To achieve this India and China ought to share their perspectives on the key drivers of divergences and work towards mitigating the same to build strategic trust.This book seeks to assess the causes of strategic mistrust in Sino – India relations and recommend measures for building trust and improving bilateral relations. Towards that end, the ten divergences have been taken as individual chapters, with both Indian and Chinese scholars providing respective perspectives.

CHAPTER – X

CHINA INDIA COOPERATION FOR
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

CHINA INDIA COOPERATION FOR GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji, IFS (Retd)

Introduction

Cooperation between India and China for global governance through the United Nations (UN) structures has a direct impact on the daily lives of almost a quarter of humanity. Historians mention that in 1600 AD, the two countries dominated the world economy, with China accounting for 29% and India 22.4% of the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP). ¹ Thereafter, mainly on account of colonialism, both India and China receded in terms of their direct contribution to the global economy. India and China are today founder-members of the UN system and active participants in the three major areas of global governance, viz. peace and security, socioeconomic development and upholding fundamental human rights and freedom. It is within this framework that this paper looks at the priority areas for their cooperation in global governance today.

India had volunteered over 1.4 million troops for the victorious Allied war effort, including troops deployed to recover the German-occupied Tsingtao (now Qingdao) port in China in November 1914. ² Although she was not a self-governing Dominion of the British Empire, India was invited to sign the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919 as a distinct legal entity, and consequently become a founder-member of the League of Nations, and multilateral structures of global governance, a century ago. ³

During the Second World War India and China came together to become founder-members of the UN and related multilateral institutions that comprise the contemporary structures of global governance. Both countries were invited by President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States to participate in the January 1942 Washington Conference of 26 allied nations fighting against the Axis powers. The Conference issued the Declaration by United Nations, which set in motion the establishment of global governance structures. India and China were signatories of this Declaration. ⁴ The United Nations framework was conceptualized to both secure and to sustain the peace.

Securing the Peace

For securing the peace, the Second World War’s military alliance brought together the Republic of China, the British Empire, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America. The Republic of China had been engaged in armed conflict with Japan since 1937 and was the first of the Allied powers of the Second World War to be involved in opposing an Axis power. ⁵ China’s objective following the 1942 Washington Conference was directed to gaining recognition of its major power status. It succeeded in being accepted as one of the major Allied powers at the Cairo Conference of 1943. The U.S. and UK accepted China’s post-war aspirations in Asia, including the consolidation of its territories occupied by Japan. ⁶

As one of the Allied armies of the Second World War, India volunteered over 2.5 million troops for the victorious Allied war effort. During the Second World War, Chinese troops were trained at the Ramgarh Training Centre (today the Sikh Regimental Centre) in India by the United States for operations in the Asian theatre of the Second World War from July 1942 onwards. ⁷ The total number of Chinese troops trained in India exceeded 50,000. ⁸

Between October 1943 and February 1945, restricted negotiations between the United States, United Kingdom, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Republic of China conceptualized the UN, ⁹ outlined its structures, and decided to designate these four as “permanent members” (later expanded to include France) in the proposed UN Security Council, with the right to veto decisions. These proposals were endorsed by the United Nations Conference on International Organization, held at San Francisco between April-June 1945. ¹⁰

The provisions of the draft UN Charter were shared with India, Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand by the United Kingdom during 4-13 April 1945 at a meeting in London. The participants expressed the views that while the restricted negotiations among the major military powers provide the basis for the UN Charter, in certain respects they call for clarification, improvement and expansion. ¹¹ At the San Francisco Conference, Australia publicly questioned the logic of the veto provisions of Article 27.3 of the Charter, but was forced by the permanent members, including the Republic of China, to compromise and accept these provisions.

The adoption of the UN Charter in June 1945 firmly placed Republic of China (ROC) at the exclusive high-table of decision-making as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council with veto-power. As the first victim of aggression by an Axis power, ROC was given the honour of being the first country to sign the UN Charter. ¹²

Coordinating Financial, Monetary and Trade Policies & Human Rights Issue

The Bretton Woods Institutions: To sustain the peace, India and China had cooperated in the meeting of the UN Monetary and Financial Conference held during 1-14 July 1944 at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in the United States (U.S.). The conference established the two Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI) —the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD or World Bank). The primary objective of the conference was to provide stability and predictability on international cooperation on financial and monetary issues after the Second World War.

India’s participation in the creation of the IMF and World Bank was influenced by her impending independence from colonial rule. Indian negotiators raised issues regarding the role of international cooperation for supporting economic development, an issue that would become more prominent for India’s participation in multilateral structures after her independence from colonial rule in August 1947.

China’s aims in the UN negotiations on international financial and economic cooperation at Bretton Woods in July 1944 were to maintain China’s international standing, promote international economic cooperation, improve friendship with other countries and enhance technical standards. ¹³ China took the stand that the share of a country’s quotas of the IMF reflected a country’s international standing. China’s procedural opposition to initial proposals on this issue by the U.S. was instrumental in the eventual agreement at Bretton Woods for the top five shares of quotas to be allocated to the U.S., United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China and France. China’s negotiating tactic was supported by five other participating delegations, including India. ¹⁴

At the Bretton Woods conference, India and China cooperated in discussions on the need to include remittances from emigrants (unilateral transfers) as current account transactions to make them convertible. India and China became original signatories of the Bretton Woods Agreements. ¹⁵

The initial experience of working together in the Bretton Woods Conference created a common ground for cooperation between India and China. Later in the 20 ^th century the experience helped in seeking reform in the decision-making process of these two institutions.

GATT/World Trade Organization: In February 1946, the General Assembly’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) mandated the launch of negotiations on international cooperation in trade and employment. Negotiators met in Havana between 21 November 1947- 24 March 1948 at the UN Conference on Trade and Employment to finalize the creation of an International Trade Organization (ITO). The Havana Charter proposed to coordinate international cooperation in trade relations between countries in fields of employment, economic development, commercial policy, business practices and commodity policy, with a special focus on manufacturing, investment, market access and reduction of tariffs. ¹⁶

The refusal of the U.S. Congress to allow the United States to be part of the ITO led to a provisional agreement among 23 countries, which had separately been negotiating tariff reductions in Geneva to enter into a General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in October 1947. ¹⁷ India and China were participants in these negotiations as part of the 23 countries which were the founder-members of the GATT. ¹⁸

While India continued with her membership of the GATT, until it evolved into the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 1 January 1995, the Republic of China decided to withdraw from the GATT with effect from 5 May 1950. ¹⁹ In 1982 the People’s Republic of China became an observer in the GATT, and on 10 July 1986 the PRC formally asked for resuming the original membership of China in the GATT. ²⁰

China launched her major economic reforms in 1978. ²¹ India’s major economic reforms were introduced in 1991. ²² The impact of these two processes on international cooperation on global trade issues has been significant. China’s accession to the WTO in 2001 has played a major role in this development. India supported China’s accession to the WTO in a constructive manner. Common membership of the WTO provides a solid foundation for India and China to cooperate in this multilateral area in the future.

Upholding Human Rights: The UN War Crimes Commission (UNWCC), headquartered in London functioned from 1943-48 and was composed of 17 of the signatories of the Washington Declaration by United Nations. The Ambassador of the Republic of China in the United Kingdom, Dr. Wellington Koo, represented China, while India was represented by her High Commissioner in London, Sir Samuel Ranganadhan.

The UNWCC played a significant role in creating a data-base for violations of fundamental human rights during the Second World War. It was primarily a fact-finding body for formulating and implementing general measures necessary to ensure the detection, apprehension, trial and punishment of persons accused of war crimes. It also performed valuable advisory functions in connection with the development of principles of international law and planning for international tribunals. ²³

India and China cooperated closely in the work of the UNWCC. This included in Committee II on “Enforcement”, which looked at all measures considered necessary to ensure the detection, apprehension, trial and punishment of persons responsible for war crimes, and the Committee to advise on Legal Questions. Each member government contributed £400 annually to the budget of the UNWCC. China (100 units), India (80 units), France (80 units) and Canada (60 units) were among the top four countries responsible for taking on any additional expenditure of the Commission on an indexation basis.

China proposed that the UNWCC set up a Far Eastern Sub-Commission. This was agreed to, and India also decided to be represented on the Far Eastern Sub-Commission which was initially based in Chungking. Dr. Wang Chung Hui, Secretary-General of the Supreme National Defence Council, the Chinese representative, called an inaugural meeting of the Sub-Commission on 29th November 1944, and was elected as first Chairman. In August 1945, the composition of the Sub-Commission was reviewed to include the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, the United Kingdom, India, the Netherlands and New Zealand. India had a National Office in the Defence Department at Delhi which processed reports on crimes against Indians in South East Asia and passed it on to the Chungking Sub-Commission. The work of this Sub-Commission provided a significant input to the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. ²⁴ The records of the UNWCC were transferred to the United Nations in 1948, and subsequently derestricted by the UN and sent to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. in July 2014. ²⁵

India and China participated in the drafting of the first major human rights treaty under the UN, which is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Peng Chung Chang of China was the Vice-Chairman of the drafting Committee, which was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, the widow of President Franklin D. Roose...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Contributors
• Introduction
• Chapter – I: Vision For Asian Century
• Chapter – II: Border Dispute
• Chapter – III: Tibet Dilemma
• Chapter – IV: WATER ISSUE
• Chapter – V: Enhancing Economic Cooperation
• Chapter – VI: Pakistan Factor In Sino-Indian Relations
• Chapter – VII: Us Factor In Sino-Indian Relations
• Chapter – VIII: Strategic Competition Cooperation In South Asia
• Chapter – IX: Indian Ocean: Challenges And Prospects For Transformation As a Zone Of Peace And Prosperity
• Chapter – X: China- India Cooperation For Global Governance
• Chapter – XI: Policy Recommendations
• Chapter – XII: Conclusion