Areas Crucial to China's Overseas Interests
The concept of areas crucial to China's overseas interests was laid out in the 2015 white paper China's Military Strategy. With China's growing global involvement, protection of overseas interests has become an important issue that should be dealt with as part of China's military strategy.
Increasing openness has led to increasing vulnerabilities for China's overseas interests, including energy resources, strategic passageways, China's overseas entities, assets, and nationals. Naval escorts, evacuation of overseas Chinese nationals, HADR operations, and cooperation in areas crucial to China's overseas interests have thus become an important part of the military's mission to protect national interests and fulfill China's international obligations.
Protection of China's interests abroad is key to ensuring sustained national development in a globalized world. It also contributes to world and regional security and stability. Cooperation in areas crucial to China's overseas interests is not intended to exclude or target anyone, nor is it an attempt to seek spheres of influence or pursue military expansion.
海外利益攸关区
海外利益攸关区是指与海外利益存在客观密切联系的区域。2015年5月，中国发表《中国的军事战略》白皮书，提出“海外利益攸关区”概念。随着中国国家利益的拓展，维护海外利益安全已经成为军事战略高度关注的重要问题。在中国不断扩大全方位对外开放的过程中，中国海外能源资源、战略通道安全和海外机构、人员、资产安全问题日益凸显，开展海上护航、撤离海外公民、应急救援等海外行动和海外利益攸关区安全合作，成为中国军队维护国家利益和履行国际义务的重要方式。维护中国海外利益，是全球化时代保障国家可持续发展的需要，也有利于维护世界和地区安全稳定。中国的海外利益攸关区没有排他性和对抗性，不谋求划分势力范围和军事扩张。