From the Climate Change Threat to the Securitisation of Development: An Analysis of China

Abstract

The climate change issue evolved as a significant policy priority within the China’s political establishment. The major factor that determines Beijing’s climate policy is the prevailing and potential climate change impact on the country’s economic development. As economic development is the foremost, pre-existing and abiding political concern, political leaders construct the climate change impact as a major threat to the country’s economic prosperity. Thus, political leaders’ overriding priority is to protect economic development—a referent object—from the perils of climate change. However, the interplay of climate threat and economic development drives political leaders to embrace security institution and develop military mind set to contend with climate-led development policies that trigger the securitisation of the development process in China. Employing the discourse analysis method, this paper examines the securitisation of development debate in China, especially at the domestic level, from the standpoint of the securitisation theory.