Security Paradigms in China’s AI Governance: A Strategic Review

Abstract

This study aims to examine the People's Republic of China's artificial intelligence (AI) governance strategies within the framework of security paradigms. The study questions how China positions AI technologies in the context of national security, ideological integrity, and digital authoritarianism. Based on the concepts of structural realism and ontological security, the study analyzes strategic documents such as the “Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan” issued under the leadership of Xi Jinping, and reveals that China uses AI beyond economic development to strengthen regime continuity and national sovereignty. The findings indicate that digitalization serves as a normative security discourse, supporting China's emerging digital authoritarian model. These strategies contribute to the formation of new security-focused norms in global AI governance. The study examines the impact of China's technology and security integration on international digital governance, envisioning a security-centered transformation in AI governance.

Keywords

• China
• Artificial intelligence
• Security dilemma
• Ontological security
• Digital authoritarianism
• Xi Jinping.

Çin’in Yapay Zekâ Yönetişiminde Güvenlik Paradigmaları: Stratejik Bir İnceleme

Öz

Bu çalışma, Çin Halk Cumhuriyeti’nin yapay zekâ (AI) yönetişim stratejilerini güvenlik paradigmaları çerçevesinde incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Araştırma, Çin’in AI teknolojilerini ulusal güvenlik, ideolojik bütünlük ve dijital otoriterlik bağlamında nasıl konumlandırdığını sorgulamaktadır. Yapısal realizm ve ontolojik güvenlik kavramları temelinde, Xi Jinping liderliğinde yayımlanan “Yeni Nesil Yapay Zekâ Gelişim Planı” gibi stratejik belgelerinin analiz edildiği çalışma, Çin’in AI’yı ekonomik kalkınmanın ötesinde, rejimsel sürekliliği ve ulusal egemenliği güçlendirmek için kullandığını ortaya koymaktadır. Bulgular, dijitalleşmenin normatif bir güvenlik söylemi olarak işlev gördüğünü ve Çin’in yükselen dijital otoriterlik modelini desteklediğini göstermektedir. Bu stratejiler, küresel AI yönetişiminde güvenlik odaklı yeni normların oluşumuna katkıda bulunmaktadır. Çalışma, Çin’in teknoloji ve güvenlik entegrasyonunun uluslararası dijital yönetişim üzerindeki etkilerini tartışarak, AI yönetişiminde güvenlik eksenli bir dönüşüm öngörmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Çin
• Yapay Zekâ
• Güvenlik İkilemi
• Ontolojik Güvenlik
• Dijital Otoriterlik
• Xi Jinping.

References

1. Allen, K. (2021). China’s technological rise and the new security dilemma, Asian Security Studies, 45(2), 199-214.
2. Bongiovi, J. R. (2019). Review of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, by S. Zuboff, Social Forces, 98(2), 1-4.
3. Borgogno, O., Savini Zangrandi, M. (2024). Chinese Data Governance and Trade Policy: From Cyber Sovereignty to the Quest for Digital Hegemony?, Journal of Contemporary China, 33(148), 578-602. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2023.2299961
4. Cheung, T. M. (2022). Innovate to Dominate: The Rise of the Chinese Techno-Security State, Cornell University Press.
5. Creemers, R. (2017). Cyber China: Upgrading propaganda, public opinion work and social management for the twenty-first century, Journal of Contemporary China, 26(103), 85-100.
6. Creemers, R. (2018). The Chinese state’s approach to artificial intelligence and national security, China Review, 28(4), 67-85.
7. Creemers, R. (2022). China’s emerging data protection framework, Journal of Cybersecurity, 8(1). Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyac011
8. Dai, X. (2020). Toward A Reputation State: A Comprehensive View of China’s Social Credit System Project, Everling, O. (eds), Social Credit Rating. Springer Gabler içinde (139-163), Wiesbaden. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-29653-7_7

9. Erdoğan, S., Topaloğlu, H. (2024). Çin ve Rusya’nın Orta Asya’da hegemonik bölgeselleşme aracı olarak Şangay İş birliği Örgütü, İmgelem, 8(16), 241-264.
10. Feldstein, S. (2019). The global expansion of AI surveillance. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, working paper, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Publications, Washington D.C.
11. Feldstein, S. (2021). 'Global Patterns of Digital Repression', The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance, Oxford Academic, NewYork. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190057497.001.0001
12. Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration, Polity Press.
13. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Stanford University Press.
14. Gunitsky, S. (2015). Corrupting the Cyber-Commons: Social Media as a Tool of Autocratic Stability, Perspectives on Politics, 13(1), 42-54. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592714003120
15. Jervis, R. (1978). Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma, World Politics, 30(2), 167-214. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/2009958
16. Jiang, H., Murmann, J. P. (2022). The Rise of China’s Digital Economy: An Overview, Management and Organization Review, 18(4), 790-802. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2022.32
17. Kania, E. B. (2019). Chinese Military Innovation in the AI Revolution, The RUSI Journal, 164(5-6), 26-34. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2019.1693803
18. Keohane, R. O. (1984). Hegemony In The World Polıtıcal Economy, in After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy (REV-Revised, pp. 31-46), Princeton University Press. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7sq9s.6
19. Kinnvall, C. (2004). Globalization and Religious Nationalism: Self, Identity, and the Search for Ontological Security, Political Psychology, 25(5), 74-767.
20. Mitzen, J. (2006). Ontological Security in World Politics: State Identity and the Security Dilemma, European Journal of International Relations, 12(3), 341-370. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066106067346
21. NSCAI (2021). Final report. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. https://www.nscai.gov (Erişim: 17.06.2025).
22. Qiang, X. (2019). The Road to Digital Unfreedom: President Xi’s Surveillance State, January 2019, 30(1), 53-67.
23. Rumelili, B., Adısönmez, U. C. (2020). Uluslararası İlişkilerde Kimlik-Güvenlik İlişkisine Dair Yeni bir Paradigma: Ontolojik Güvenlik Teorisi, Uluslararası İlişkiler, 17(66), 23-39. Doi: https://doi.org/10.33458/uidergisi.720630 Segal, A. (2020). China’s Pursuit of Cyberpower, Asia Policy, 15(2), 60-66.
24. State Council of China. (2017). New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, China State Council. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2017-07/20/content_5211996.htm (Erişim: 04.05.2025).
25. Steele, B.J. (2008). Ontological Security in International Relations: Self-Identity and the IR State (1st ed.), Routledge. Doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203018200
26. Şahin, M. (2020). Değişen Dünya Düzenine Bağlı Olarak Değişen Uluslararası Güvenlik Algısı, İmgelem, 4(8), 177-204. Doi: https://doi.org/10.53791/imgelem.1309633 Waltz, K. N. (1964). The Stability of a Bipolar World, Daedalus, 93(3), 881-909.
27. Waltz, K. N. (1979). Theory of international politics, New York: McGraw-Hill.
28. Wendt, A. (1992). Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of power politics, International Organization, 46(2), 391-425.
29. Wendt, A. (1999). Social theory of international politics, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
30. Zeng, J. (2020a). Artificial intelligence and China’s authoritarian governance, International Affairs, 96(6), 1441-1462.
31. Zeng, J. (2020b). China’s digital governance and the global competition for algorithmic dominance, Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 6(4), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaa172
32. Zhang, W., Han, J., Dembinska, I. vd. (2025). Inequality in The Digital Economy: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence On Income Gap—An Empirical Analysis Based On County-Level Data From China, Cities, 166, 106280. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2025.106280