International NGOs as intermediaries in China's 'going out' strategy

Bibliographic Data

ID3731878
AuthorsMay Farid (0000-0002-9071-9865), Hui Li (0000-0001-9355-1116)
Year2021
Volume97
Issue6
Pages1945-1962
Publication date2021-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-5850 • E-ISSN: 1468-2346
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ia/iiab183
OpenAlexW3208677957
LanguageEN
Citations received11

China's ascendancy as a global development actor has significant implications for geostrategic dynamics and international development. While the push to 'go out' has been seen as a major strategy of the Chinese state, the actors are increasingly diversifying, including Chinese state agencies, businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). We analyse the inconspicuous but important involvement of international NGOs (INGOs) in China's globalizing strategy. Drawing on in-depth interviews, we develop an integrated framework for INGOs as intermediaries in China's 'going out' strategy, based on the content of intermediary support (tangible vs intangible resources) and the function of the intermediary (bridging vs initiating). These intermediary roles have implications for how INGOs navigate conflicts between their domestic work in China and their outbound efforts, INGO legitimacy as actors that promote global norms or as ambassadors of the party-state, and the extent to which they facilitate Chinese expansion and soft power or shape China's global engagement. We show how INGOs as northern actors continue to play a role in South-South Cooperation. Our findings shed light on how global civil society chooses to invest its significant material and discursive resources, and how global actors under authoritarianism internalize, resist or promote its projects

Authoritarianism · Business · China · Democracy · Global strategy · Intermediary · Legitimacy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Soft power · State (computer science) · China's Global Influence and Migration · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · International Development and Aid · Marketing

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