HA/DR and Image-building: China as the New Humanitarian Actor in the Indo-Pacific and its Implications for QUAD

In the contemporary era of rapid climate change, natural disasters as well as man-made ones have become increasingly commonplace. The geological predisposition of the Indo-Pacific makes it prone to large-scale natural calamities like cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes and more. Regional Disaster Relief mechanisms are underdeveloped, and bilateral partnerships in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) have taken precedence. Over the decades, China has developed the force structure to support global disaster relief and rescue missions. The paper, therefore, seeks to delineate the underlying motivations driving the growth of China’s HA/DR sector and contextualises it within the ambit of Humanitarianism and Image-Building. The study utilises Joseph Nye Jr.’s Soft Power framework to investigate how China’s HA/DR missions contribute to its strategic objectives and influence regional geopolitics. The role played by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is also outlined to highlight the civil-military nexus in disaster relief. In addition, China’s multilateral exchanges and capacity-building exercises with the countries of the Indo-Pacific become important due to the inherent Great Power Competition (GPC) within the region. A critical aspect of this research is understanding the implications of China’s HA/DR engagements on the QUAD-comprising India, Japan, the United States, and Australia, thereby mapping the way forward in regional disaster management practices.