604 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies N. 5 / 2015 non-aggression; mutual non-interference in internal affairs; equality and mutual benefit; and peaceful coexistence. 3. 3. The international economy should become the basis for regional and global security in order to promote mutual benefit and peer-to-peer practices. 4. 4. All countries should create consultation and cooperation mechanisms in the area of security and enhance mutual understanding and trust in order to resolve their disputes through peaceful means.9 Based on the assumption that “vulnerability to threats is the main driver of China’s foreign policy”, Nathan and Scobell speak of China’s enemies and claim that it deals with security matters as if they were located in four concentric circles. The second circle contains China’s borders and twenty-two actor countries, including the U.S., whose “presence poses the largest single challenge to China’s security”.10 THE TIANANMEN SQUARE INCIDENT The opening up to the outside world and the entry of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China put the country under strong pressure from foreign investors looking for guarantees for their investments. As modernisation progressed in China, the country became increasingly dependent on international markets. The old communist guard saw some of the concessions made to foreigners as a threat. One of the hardest concessions was that made in 1986 when, in order to attain membership of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), whose directors did not want to expel Taiwan, Beijing had to accept the presence of the “rebel island” under the official name “Taipei, China”. However, the decision proved to be the right one, given that the ADB has been essential in driving development in China and, with 29.76 billion dollars received in loans up to April 2014, it is China’s second largest lender.11 9 ROCHA PINO, Manuel de Jesús: “China in…” pp. 695 and 696. 10 NATHAN, Andrew J. and SCOBELL, Andrew: China’s Search for Security, New York, Columbia University Press, 2012, pp. 3 to 5. The authors point to the mighty presence of the U.S. in China’s neighbourhood, with its Pacific Command headquarters in Honolulu; its giant military base on the Pacific island of Guam (9,000 kilometres from the continental U.S., but only 3,000 km from China); its dominating naval presence in the South and East China Seas; its defence relationships of various kinds around China’s periphery with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan; and its economic and political influence all through the Asian region. All in all, China’s immediate periphery has a good claim to be the most challenging geopolitical environment in the world for a major power. 11 See the statistics published by the ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB), founded in 1966 and with its headquarters in the Philippines. The ADB states that China, following three decades of http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee
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