China's Private Army: Protecting the New Silk Road

184 Pages·2018·2.54 MB·English

by  Alessandro Arduino (auth.)

CHINA’S
PRIVATE ARMY
Protecting the New
Silk Road
Alessandro Arduino
China’s Private Army
Alessandro Arduino
China’s Private Army
Protecting the New Silk Road
Alessandro Arduino
Co-Director Security & Crisis Management Program
Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences—UNITO
Shanghai, China
ISBN 978-981-10-7214-7 ISBN 978-981-10-7215-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7215-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017963548
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
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publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
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Cover illustration: Abstract Bricks and Shadows © Stephen Bonk/Fotolia.co.uk
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This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21- 01/04 Gateway East, Singapore
189721, Singapore
This book is dedicated to Gian Matteo with the hope that
he will always be able to find his moral compass
in any uncharted territory.
A
cknowledgements
The core insights of this volume are based on interviews and workshops
that were carried out in China and along the Belt and Road. I would like
to extend my personal thanks to many people who devoted their precious
time to shed light on the privatization of the Chinese state’s monopoly of
force. Some experts and practitioners prefer to be anonymous, but I want
you to know that without your support and knowledge I could not have
accomplished this task.
I am indebted to many friends and colleagues and would like to
acknowledge the intellectual support of Dr Paul Cole in challenging, more
often bluntly than not, my early drafts; Prof. Li Yihai for supporting my
quest; Prof. Li Mingjiang for believing in a future for Chinese Private
Security research; and Dr James Dorsey for his sharp critique and for
pointing me towards new sources of information. Raffaello, Jianming,
Yaniv, Mick, Kerry, Christian, Randy, Dexi, Jacob, Yu, James, Zhao, Joey,
Andrew, Huang, Mike and Pat—you know.
A deeply heartfelt thank you goes to all the supportive colleagues from
Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, S. Rajaratnam School of International
Studies, as well as the University of Turin.
Last but not the least, I would like to express my gratitude to my editor
Mr Jacob Dreyer for graciously tolerating my rants and to Ms Anushangi
Weerakoon for her kind support.
vii
c
ontents
1 Protecting the New Silk Road 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Securing the Belt and Road Initiative 9
1.3 Security Privatization with Chinese Characteristics 17
1.4 Chinese Approach to PSC
Employment: ‘Crossing the River Feeling the Stones’ 20
References 29
2 From Shadow to Hype 31
2.1 Private Military and Security
Companies: From Shadow to Hype 31
2.2 Private Security Companies Go Mainstream 35
2.3 Chinese Own Perception
of the Domestic and International Security Market 41
2.4 From the Anabasis to the Online Security Apps 48
2.5 From Africa’s Bush Wars
to Afghanistan: The Evolution of the Anti-mercenary Law 54
2.6 Lack of Definition, Accountability and Transparency 58
References 65
3 Protecting Chinese Overseas Interests 69
3.1 The Silk Road: Modern Solutions for Ancient Problems 69
3.2 Belt and Road Initiative Risk Mapping 72
3.3 China’s Overseas Interests 74
ix
x CONTENTS
3.4 Global Interest Vs. Global Ambitions: Stretching
the Non-interference Principle 79
3.5 Securing the ‘Chinese Dream’:
Narrowing the Gap Between Economic Diplomacy
and Security Capabilities 81
3.6 Sino-Pakistan ‘All Weather Friendship’ 87
3.7 Central Asia Energy and Security Network 91
3.8 Afghanistan’s Great Game 94
3.9 Africa: From Libya to Sudan 99
3.10 O pportunities and Challenges: Private Security
Companies’ Monitoring and Governance 104
References 110
4 Globalization and the Market for Force 115
4.1 China Vs. US Market for Force 115
4.2 China Vs. Russia Market for Force 127
4.3 Kidnapping and Ransom: The Role of Special Insurances 131
4.4 China PSCs and the Terror Nexus 139
4.5 Catching Tigers and Flies:
The Hunt for Corrupt Chinese Overseas 143
References 148
5 Conclusion 151
5.1 Chinese Private Security Companies:
Just Another Blackwater? 152
5.2 New Wars, New Businesses 158
5.3 China’s Private Army: From Rule-Taker to Rule-Maker 159
5.4 Is China’s Dream Going to Be a Safe Dream? 162
References 169
Index 171
l A
ist of bbreviAtions
AIIB Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
ANA Afghan National Army
AVIC Aviation Industry Corporation of China
BRI Belt and Road Initiative
CIRC China Insurance Regulatory Commission
CMC Central Military Commission
CPEC China Pakistan Economic Corridor
CSR Corporate Social Responsibilities
CSSC China State Shipbuilding Corporation
CSTO Collective Security Treaty Organization
EEU Eurasian Economic Union
FDI Foreign Direct Investment
FSG Frontier Service Group
G2G Government-to-Government
ICoCA International Code of Conduct Association
IS Islamic State
K&R Kidnapping and Ransom
M&A Merger and Acquisition
MFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs
MIC Military Industrial Complex
MOFCOM Ministry of Commerce
NDN Northern Distribution Network
NDRC National Development and Reform Commission
NPM New Public Management
NRA National Revolutionary Army
xi
xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
NSA Non-state Actor
OBOR One Belt One Road
ODI Outbound Direct Investment
PAP People’s Armed Police
PLA People’s Liberation Army
PLAN People’s Liberation Army’s Navy
PMF Private Military Firm
PMSC Private Military Security Companies
PSC Private Security Companies
RATS Regional Anti-terrorist Structure
RFP Requests for Proposal
SASAC State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration
Commission
SASS Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
SCO Shanghai Cooperation Organization
SIGIR Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction
SIIS Shanghai Institute for International Studies
SOE State-Owned Enterprise
SRA Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army
WTO World Trade Organization