Ethics of War - China (Research Paper Sample)

Ethics of War - China
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Ethics of War - China
Green (2010) defines war as an organized and planned violence that may be political or otherwise among nations. Ethics of war can be classified as right ethics, duty ethics and action ethics depending on its purpose, weapons and outcomes among other factors. China is one of the countries in which internal conflicts are quite common. However, such occurrences usually remain unnoticed due to China’s foreign policies. The country prefers handling its own issues and avoids meddling in other country’s matters, particularly matters pertaining to war. Further, China’s economy has grown tremendously over the past few years, and this has increased rivalry between China and other world superpowers. Consequently, the country’s current and future position about war remains unclear. This essay will investigate China’s current position about war and also predict the same position in the future.
Ethics of war: China’s current position on war
According to Blasko (2006), China has the second largest budget on war, after the United States of America. The military budget has been rising over the past few years (figure 1) and this has caused speculations.
Figure 1: China published military budget
In China, the age of enlistment into the military service is 18 years for both genders. Enlistment is voluntary but there are some exceptions in the enlistment process. Chinese citizens between 18 and 22 years old are eligible to join the Chinese military. However, any Chinese citizen in the age group specified above may not be eligible if he/she is on a full-time education program or is the sole breadwinner of his/her family (Elleman, 2012). This mode of enlistment does not characterize a nation that is preparing to engage in a war any time soon.
In China and other Asian countries that share common customs and traditions, conflicts are usually settled through mediation talks rather than appeals to political intervention or adjudication. Zarrow (2005) reveals that religion, class and gender greatly influence the patterns of conflict resolution. Most Chinese leaders confirm that the Chinese people are generally peaceful. They hold a philosophy of avoiding battles at all cost. Conflicts in China are normally followed by mediation efforts as opposed to confrontation. Blasko (2006) gives a good example of this Chinese philosophy. In the example, China’s President gave a statement concerning the war in Iraq. He said that it was regrettable that the war had begun and China was concerned about the disaster that had engulfed Iraq. He showed concern on the general stability and development of the affected nations, as well as, the impact of the war on the global perception of war. Blasko (2006) add that the president appeared to be against military action. Indeed, he called upon the countries that had sent their troops to Iraq to recall them and begin the negotiation process. The Chinese government offered humanitarian assistance to Iraqi civilians who were affected by the war. This shows that China is usually against military action and does not support war.
According to Zarrow (2005), China is a country that embraces "Yi Zhan" or "Just War”. This term has been used for ages and is still one of Chinese philosophy. This philosophy marks one of the traditions and customs of the ancient China that up-to-date explain China’s public stand in matters pertaining to war and violence. The great art of war corpus in modern China still holds a number of treaties that governed China since 1078 CE. Some of the norms in these ancient writings are still relevant in the modern day China’s society.
From China’s past internal conflicts and culture, it can be argued that China does not consider war as the last resort to solving a problem, but rather as a possible avenue that can be exploited to settle disputes. However, when it comes to international affairs, China avoids any active involvement in the deliberations. She either tends to retire from the limelight or like snipers, fades into the darkness. For instance, according to Elleman (2012), while responding to an accusation that Chinese soldiers committed crimes of war in Sri Lanka, China’s authority stated that "we believe the government of Sri Lanka and its people have the ability to handle and to realize the reconciliation of its people, achieve social stability and economic prosperity." This clearly shows that the Chinese hold a philosophy of "Noninterference with external matters that concern other people”. Jessup (1989) attribute this behavior to China’s opposition to the use of excess force in any international relation.
China embraces a variety of religions including Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism. Buddhism is the most popular religion in China. According to Jessup (1989), Chinese religions are family- oriented and do not need to be strictly followed. Therefore, the Chinese people can engage in several religions at the same time. Moreover, all these religions promote peace. Although these religions differ on their stand on certain issues pertaining to war, they do not grossly affect the whole population. Hence, it can be argued that China’s religions are anti-war.
Elleman (2012) argue that the effect of war in China is a very important factor in determining the ethics of war that the Chinese uphold. Over the recent decades, China has been adversely affected by war both economically and socially. China has been implicated in nearly all the world wars including the Third World War which was never fought, but only existed in the economic front. China seems to have learned a very important lesson from these unfortunate events. Historically, the Chinese never co-existed peacefully with their neighbors. The economic, social and political implication that seems to have accompanied this period of Chinese unrest seems to have been the turning point for China. Apparently, China has not engaged herself in any war.
The future of China
The future of China, in terms of whether or not it will be involved in any wars rests on several factors. The first factor is its economic standing. China is currently handling a very big percentage of the foreign investment stocks (Elleman, 2012). Its diplomatic relations are going to increase or maybe double within the next ten years if the rate of economic growth remains the same. An increase in the number of international relations may influence China’s diplomacy policies. Currently, China is not engaging in international disputes, and does not support the use of military intervention to foster peace. However, if the current trend continues, this stance may change. For instance, just recen...