Timing matters

: China's contestation of human protection norms in South Sudan and Myanmar

Abstract

This PhD dissertation explores how China engages with human protection norms and why it engages with individual norms in this norm cluster differently. Human protection norms constitute a key dimension of the liberal international order. I empirically investigate whether China uses proactive or reactive norm contestation in its engagement with intrusive human protection norms, elucidating why it is not consistent across cases. Proactive contestation means critically engaging with norms. Reactive contestation means rejecting norms completely, which is more harmful to norms.

My core theoretical argument is that the timing of an actor’s encounter with the norm greatly shapes how the actor ends up engaging with the norm in the long term. I develop a stage-based approach to norm contestation, distinguishing between norm emergence and norm stability stages. An actor is more likely to choose proactive norm contestation in the long run if it met the norm while this norm was still under emergence.

My empirical finding is that China’s ability to insert its norm preference in robust peacekeeping protection of civilians during norm emergence helped establish norm resonance between the norm and China’s preferences, which locked China in the continued proactive norm contestation in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) (2013-2018). In contrast, China’s missed timing to engage with the voluntary repatriation norm during its norm emergence stage failed to establish a norm resonance with China’s preferences. Thus, China had less normative space to insert its norm preferences at the stage of norm stability, facing stronger material and reputational costs to contest it “from within” during the Rohingya humanitarian crisis (2017-2020). Therefore, China chose reactive norm contestation.

I draw primary data from publicly available documents and semi-structured elite interviews with relevant UN officials, Chinese and western officials and scholars, local humanitarian workers, UN peacekeepers, and local refugees.

Date of Award	28 Nov 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Mateja Peter (Supervisor) & Christopher Charles Ogden (Supervisor)