ABSTRACT
Since the 1990s, China’s views on multilateral security have become more widely accepting of the need for regional co-ordination on strategic issues. However, the Chinese government has been a frequent critic of traditional Cold War era alliance-based forms of co-operation, arguing that modern security problems have necessitated new thinking on how states should more effectively co-operate to address transnational threats. At the same time, in recent years, China’s growing confidence in engaging security organizations has resulted in the country taking a more active role in developing new regimes to address security problems on its periphery. By far the most visible example of this policy has been the development, since 2001, and greatly influenced by the Chinese government, of the SCO—the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation—known in Chinese as the Shanghai Hezuo Zushi.
