CHINA, INTERNATIONAL-ORGANIZATIONS AND REGIMES - THE ILO AS A CASE-STUDY IN ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

Recent writing on China's foreign and defense policies has focused on the degree to which they constitute a ''problem'' in international rel ations. This study of China's relations with the International Labour Organisation since 1971, and particularly since 1989, reveals a learni ng curve which points to China's increasing sense of international res ponsibility and interdependence. In a period of twenty-five years, Chi na has moved from a position claiming special exemption and privileges within the ILO to one in which it has accepted its reporting obligati ons and has acknowledged the validity of a number of ILO standards and their applicability to China. Some of these standards have been trans lated into new Chinese legislation, if not into practical implementati on, Change has been brought about by a combination of exogenous and en dogenous pressures - China's organizational interests within the ILO a s well as domestic labour unrest - and has had the effect of altering China's perceptions of its self-interest. This case study suggests tha t, over time, considerations of domestic self-interest combined with i nternational organizational pressures can be effective in promoting Ch ina's cognitive, as well as instrumental, learning within the internat ional system.