China and the Global Commons: Selective Contributions and Contestation

• Published in: International Community Law Review
• Main Author: Burnay, Matthieu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Brill 2020
• Subjects: Law; Political Science and International Relations; Arctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18719732-12341450; https://brill.com/view/journals/iclr/22/5/article-p639_5.xml; https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/iclr/22/5/article-p639_5.xml

Abstract The objective of this paper is to analyse how and why the People’s Republic of China ( PRC ) influences the making of regulatory and non-regulatory frameworks governing global commons. In the first part, the paper presents three factors that underpin the governance of the global commons today: the participation of a multiplicity of stakeholders (i.e. states and private actors); the establishment of new institutions, norms, and procedures to govern global commons; as well as the function of the commons as an alternative discourse to the crisis of neoliberal capitalism. In the second part, the paper presents how recent changes in China’s foreign policy and its engagement with international law inform the emergence of China as a key stakeholder in the governance of global commons, particularly in relation to the governance of maritime, space, Arctic, and cyber domains. In the third part, the paper introduces some specific features of China’s engagement with the global commons. These features include an instrumental and selective approach to international law; attempts to localise the governance of the commons; as well as reluctance in engaging with transnational actors in the governance of the global commons.