China's challenge to the global commons

Compliance, Contestation, and Subversion in the Maritime and Cyber Domains

Bibliographic Data

ID4444360
AuthorsKristi Govella (0000-0002-0579-0748, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume35
Issue3
Pages446-468
Publication date2021-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-1178 • E-ISSN: 1741-2862
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00471178211036228
OpenAlexW3190873951
LanguageEN
Citations received7

It is often predicted that rising powers such as China will seek to reshape the international order as they gain influence. Drawing on comparative analysis of the maritime and cyber domains, this article argues that China poses a challenge to the global commons because its actions reflect a pragmatic focus on national interest that that disrupts more collaborative conceptions of their governance. However, instead of directly rejecting existing regimes, China has pursued a mixed strategy of complying when these regimes confer benefits and employing contestation or subversion when they conflict with its strategic aims. In particular, China has used contestation and subversion to push for the enclosure of the maritime and cyber domains, extending ideas of sovereignty and territoriality to them to varying extents. While the relatively well-institutionalized nature of maritime governance has limited China's focus to the application of specific rules in areas where it prioritizes sovereign control, the embryonic status of the cyber regime has enabled China to call into question the fundamental definition of cyberspace as a global common. Subversion has also allowed China to accomplish strategic goals through 'gray zone' tactics, resulting in increased conflict below the level of war in both domains

China · Commons · Corporate governance · Cyberspace · Economics · Global commons · Global governance · Law and economics · Management · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sovereignty · Subversion · The Internet · Computer Science · Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies · Ecology · International Maritime Law Issues · Law · Maritime Security and History

Tools

Open DOI