Beijing is not just seeking increased global influence, but also wants the new breed of think tanks to support the CPC and government in making policy and decisions related to security and strategic affairs. Thus, the PLA is preparing to appoint public intellectuals and influencers from Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Japan as equal partners in these think tanks.
@Kunal_Chonkar
New Delhi: In order to wield major foreign influence and boost its soft power, China is set to develop a new breed of ‘high-end’ think tanks in the coming few years. The Communist Party of China’s (CPC), which has long yearned soft power commensurate with Beijing’s expanding economic and political footprint will be investing to ‘raise and remodel specialized think tanks’ to support the party and the government in making policies and decisions related to national security and strategic affairs.
The Fifth Plenum of the 19th CPC Central Committee, while deliberating on the ‘proposal on formulating the 11th Five-Year Program for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objective of 2030’ has highlighted the need for advancing the building and development of high-end think tanks. The PLA Academy of Military Sciences (AMS), which will oversee the development of these think tanks will also increase international cooperation with foreign think tanks, including establishing branches of Chinese institutions in other countries across the globe.
A recent report published in Beijing, quoted an unnamed senior official from AMS’s Department of War Theory and Strategic Research as saying that ‘It is necessary to seriously study and implement the spirit of the plenary session, and effectively turn it into concrete action. This will assist us in advancing first-rate military think tank building efforts, deeply promote the integration of theory and technology, combine research with the application and strengthen the collaboration of knowledge in scientific research. The aim overall is now to continuously raise the quality and comprehensive influence of think tank building, integrate better national governance systems and contemporary governance capability through producing results, human resources, and ideas.’
Three aims
According to the report the AMS will strengthen the building of national high-end think tanks on three aspects.
First – strengthen the quality orientation and perfect the closed-loop of think tank research – the AMS will focus on improving the think tank’s research quality, promote and perfect the closed-loop mechanism of needs generation, subject research, application transformation, evaluation, and feedback. It will also pay keen attention on exploring the research and designate menu style drafts, combine them with the competitive research, so that the think tank research and decision-making requirements are well-matched, and provide opportunities for research personnel of think tanks in various disciplines to participate in a competition and play their roles.
In regard to topical research, the new breed of PLA think tanks will combine research and application, so as to create conditions for think tanks to understand and grasp real problems, produce real results, and achieve results to be able to be implemented. In bids to improve methods, means, conditions for support, and to strengthen the construction of think tanks, the AMS will create specialized databases, case bases, game systems, and information system platforms.
Second – strive to pool collective wisdom and gather strength, consolidate the foundation for personnel cultivation. In terms of institutional design, the AMS will sort out and study deep-seated contradictions and problems that have been absorbing, nurturing, and using talented personnel. Plans are in the pipeline to improve open, competitive, and mobile mechanisms for using talented personnel to build a national first-class think tank expert database. According to the plans, concentrated efforts are also made to strengthen the development of military theories and think tanks in the military science and technology field and promote the orderly flow of talents and the optimized allocation of resources.
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Third – branding empowering – expanding the network of exchanges and cooperation. Through the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, the AMS will continue to promote exchanges of defense think tanks between China and ASEAN countries. However, AMS officials will now keenly explore ways to forge formal and informal cooperation with foreign think tanks, strengthen decision-making by consultation and augment research collaboration.
“Attempts will also be made by the AMS to establish institutionalized cooperation through exchange seminars, joint research on subjects, promote the formation of a defense and security think tank cooperation and exchange network. At the same time, with the support of continuing to carry out China-ASEAN national defense think tank exchange activities, the AMS will expand and establish an even broader think tank international cooperation network and continually improve the international influence of think tanks,” a senior defense analyst from Singapore told TheNews21.
Appointing region-specific elites
Under the third pillar of forming the new breeds of think tanks, the AMS will actively appoint three distinct groups of members. The core researchers of the think tanks will comprise current or retired government officials, business leaders, and public intellectuals.
While there is already a process to appoint two categories of members – current or former government officials, business leaders – in these think tanks, a new program has been formulated to include public intellectuals and influencers from around the world.
The AMS is preparing a list of academicians, economists, journalists, activists, celebrities, and even social media influencers to be appointed as equal partners in these think tanks. The list primarily features citizens from nations with whom Beijing has locked horns over strategic, and territorial issues including Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Japan.
As per the analyst, the PLA had given a similar suggestion to Imran Khan to influence Pakistan’s control on Baluchistan. The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad had extended full support to Khan in funding these think tanks and even appointing international scholars and researchers.
Following Beijing’s push on 10 April 2020, Khan during his interaction with the press at the Governor House in Quetta had stated that his government will be establishing think tanks to promote agriculture, economic activities, and employment in the province (Baluchistan).
