TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) published a report on July 11 that criticizes Beijing for sending the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to provide assistance to disaster-stricken areas out of political considerations, instead of humanitarianism, and at times even undermining the effectiveness of multinational operations.
In the past twenty years, China has been increasing its involvement in overseas humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR). However, the USCC report states that it often did so to improve its image as a “responsible stakeholder” in the international system.
The report also criticizes Beijing’s prioritization of political objectives in HA/DR missions, which it says violates the spirit of humanitarianism and, in some cases, has led to avoidable loss of life. As an example, the USCC points to China’s HA/DR mission in Nepal after the 2015 earthquake, as the PLA refused other participating militaries access to its area of operations, "effectively treating its operating sector as “sovereign territory."
The PLA also exploits opportunities to gather intelligence on foreign militaries, especially those of the U.S. and its allies, and gain insight on their tactics, says the commission. The report argues that the PLA might, through access to training during HA/DR missions, improve its combat capabilities with the aim of carrying out force projection operations, such as a blockade of Taiwan.
Although the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 prohibits most military exchanges between the U.S. and China, the law made exceptions for "search and rescue or humanitarian exercises." The USCC report questions whether the United States Department of Defense (DoD) has undertaken a comprehensive assessment on the national security risk of HA/DR exchanges and if it has appropriately defined the boundaries and constraints of contact between the two militaries in such exercises.
The report casts doubt on the potential to build up trust between the United States and China through HA/DR cooperation. Its authors consider this to be difficult given the substantive differences in the countries' national interests and approaches to humanitarian activities.
