Historical–Geopolitical Contexts and the Transformation of Chinese Foreign Policy

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Flint ◽  
Zhang Xiaotong
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Capitalist World Economy ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
World Systems Analysis ◽  
Chinese Diplomacy ◽  
Contemporary Chinese ◽  
Geopolitical Context

Abstract In the past few years, China has made dramatic foreign policy decisions that have changed both the global landscape and the behaviour of other states. To understand fully the possibilities and limitations of China’s foreign policy, it is important to see its occurrences within geopolitical contexts. The main argument of this article is that geopolitical context must be theorised in order to understand the decisions of states. We define a political geography perspective within a world-systems analysis that creates a Space–Time matrix of context based on the core–periphery hierarchy of the capitalist world economy and economic and hegemonic cycles. Inspired by Chinese scholars and policymakers’ periodisations of Chinese diplomacy, we develop a new periodisation of Chinese diplomatic cycles from 1840 to 2039. Using this new periodisation of Chinese diplomacy, we situate the changing nature of Chinese foreign policy within our Space–Time matrix. We then evaluate the possibilities and challenges of China’s current foreign policy, with emphasis on the Belt and Road Initiative, by illustrating features of the contemporary geopolitical context. Finally, we discuss the implications of this for contemporary Chinese foreign policy.

scholarly journals CHINA'S FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS MYANMAR: A ROLE MODEL IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

2021 ◽  
pp. 07-17
Author(s):  
Mohamad Zreik
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Mao Zedong ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
Strategic Factors ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
Chinese Diplomacy

China has a large and professional diplomatic team spread all over the world. Chinese diplomacy mainly relies on soft power in its relations with international partners. Despite the unified outlines, Chinese foreign policy differs from one country to another, depending on the geographical location, the political system and the volume of trade exchange. Chinese foreign policy has gone through many stages, most notably the period of Mao Zedong who strictly applied the rules of socialism, and the period of Deng Xiaoping, known for its reform and openness policy, thus establishing a modern and more flexible Chinese system. President Xi Jinping's term is an extension of Deng Xiaoping's rule of thumb, but with more openness to international partners and economic expansion, especially with the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. This paper deals with China's foreign policy towards Myanmar, and refers to the development of bilateral relations and China's interest in a distinguished relationship with Myanmar. The research indicates the strategic factors that make China interested in developing the relationship with Myanmar.

Chinese Foreign Policy under Hu Jintao:The Struggle between Low-Profile Policy and Diplomatic Activism

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao Suisheng
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Low Profile ◽  
Global Power ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
International Responsibility ◽  
The One ◽  
Rising Power ◽  
Chinese Diplomacy

AbstractThis article explores a controversial issue of Chinese foreign policy: whether the Hu leadership has abandoned Deng Xiaoping’s taoguang yanghui policy — hiding one’s capabilities and biding one’s time — and reoriented Chinese foreign policy towards a more assertive, if not more aggressive, direction. This is controversial because while China in public still insists that it follows the taoguang yanghui policy established by Deng in the early 1990s; Chinese diplomacy has become increasingly active and assertive since Hu came to power, particularly since the 2008-2009 global economic crisis. This article argues that as a rising power, an active foreign policy has become a necessity rather than a luxury for China. This diplomatic activism marks a certain departure from the taoguang yanghui policy, but the Hu leadership is still juggling China’s taoguang yanghui policy with its emerging role as a global power. One defining tension in China’s foreign policy agenda is to find a balance between expanding China’s international influence and taking more international responsibility on the one hand and continuing to play down its pretence of being a global power and avoiding confrontation with the United States on the other.

scholarly journals A Legal Conquest of the Arctic? China, the European Nordic Countries and Multilateralism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selina Morell
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Master's Thesis ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
The Belt And Road

China published its first White Paper on the Arctic region in 2018, announcing its vision of integrating it as a Polar Silk Road under its Belt and Road Initiative framework. This marked the beginning of an increasingly assertive Chinese presence in the Arctic and indicated that the region has gained strategic significance in Beijing’s foreign policy agenda. This master’s thesis examined whether the inclusion of the Arctic in the framework of China’s Belt and Road Initiative has influenced the Chinese foreign policy approach towards the Arctic countries. If the inclusion of the Arctic did indeed have an impact, this could help to assess the overall influence of the Belt and Road Initiative on China’s foreign policy and gain a better understanding of how China operates in its context.

scholarly journals Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Blues: Powering BRI Research Back on Track to Avoid Choppy Seas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marc F. Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
The Road ◽  
Political Costs ◽  
Maritime Silk Road ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
On The Road

AbstractThis piece examines and critiques the massive literature on China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It details how research currently seems stuck on the road to nowhere. In addition, it identifies a number of the potholes that collective research endeavors are hitting such as that they are poorly synchronized. It also stresses that lines of analysis are proliferating rather than optimizing, with studies broadening in thematic coverage, rather than becoming deeper. It points out that BRI participants are regularly related to the role of a bit player in many analyses and research often is disconnected from other literatures. Among other things, this article recommends analysts focus on the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) or Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) in specific regions or countries. It also argues for a research core that focuses on the implementation issue (i.e., the issue of MSRI and SREB project implementation), project effects (i.e., the economic and political costs and benefits of projects), and the translation issue (i.e., the domestic and foreign policy effects of projects) and does work that goes beyond the usual suspects. On a related note, research need to identify, more precisely, participants and projects, undertake causal analysis, and take into account countervailing factors. Furthermore, studies need to make more extensive use of the Chinese foreign policy literature. Moreover, works examining subjects like soft power need to improve variable conceptualization and operationalization and deliver more nuanced analyses. Finally, studies, especially by area specialists, should take the area, not the China, perspective.

Speaking to the foreign audience: Chinese foreign policy concerns as expressed in China Daily, January 1989–June 1993

1994 ◽  
Vol 53 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 43-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Stone ◽  
Liu Binyan
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
English Language ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Global Power ◽  
English Language Publication ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
International English ◽  
China Daily

This paper examines the foreign policy priorities and concerns of the People's Republic of China as expressed by that nation's official international, English language publication, China Daily. The paper argues that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, the official Chinese press can be a useful tool in assessing Chinese foreign policy priorities as result of its propaganda function. Within this paradigm, it finds that China's primary foreign policy priorities are sovereignty and territorial integrity and that China considers itself primarily a regional rather than a global power. It concludes that China's foreign policy is driven by pragmatism rather than ideology because of China's domestic project of economic development.

China's Belt and Road Initiative

2019 ◽  
pp. 117-142
Author(s):  
Muhammad Khalil Khan ◽  
Cornelius B. Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Development Model ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Financial Investment ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy

China's multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a common fixture on the radar of policymakers and researchers because of the massive financial investment it involves and the economic opportunities it provides disadvantaged Eurasian states. BRI promises fast-track infrastructural development, transnational connectivity, and unimpeded trade. It predicates economic growth in developing countries on the shared development model. However, BRI has also engendered sensitive economic and security challenges. The Islamic world embraces BRI even as China's engagement there poses critical challenges to its foreign policy. This chapter highlights key markers on the landscape of BRI projects in the Islamic world and presents their implications for China's foreign policy. It also provides useful policy guidelines for a more effective implementation of BRI-related projects, thereby protecting China from possible conflict with regional and global powers.

Nationalism, Social Influences, and Chinese Foreign Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 63-84
Author(s):  
Peter Gries
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Social Influences ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Peer Socialization ◽  
Policy Performance ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
First World ◽  
Different Parts

This chapter assesses the domestic sources of contemporary China’s foreign policy. In particular, it examines the importance of national identities, China’s worldviews, the socialization of Chinese, and particularly the role of nationalism. The chapter begins by arguing that social influences matter: the CCP has inextricably linked itself, society, and foreign policy by staking its domestic right to rule upon its foreign policy performance. The chapter then turns to the thorny empirical question of what we know about Chinese feelings and attitudes toward different parts of the world, from China’s Asian neighbors, to the admired and resented Euro-American First World, to Russia, and the dark and backwards Third World of Africa and Latin America. It then turns to the causes/drivers of these worldviews, arguing that both demographics (e.g., age and location) and individual predispositions (e.g., nationalism and cosmopolitanism) matter, but that political and peer socialization has a powerful constraining effect on the international attitudes of the Chinese people.

scholarly journals China – Cooperation and rivalry in today's interdependent world: Will pandemic change the trends?

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (S) ◽  
pp. 47-69
Author(s):  
Wojciech Hübner
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Leadership Position ◽  
Economic Uncertainty ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
Complex Phenomena

AbstractThe paper examines the importance of the ‘Chinese factor’ in today's world from the perspective of current phenomena such as particular political and economic uncertainty and also examines them against the background of processes of global cooperation and parallel unprecedented competition at the same level. Complex phenomena occurring in this area have recently been additionally disrupted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Will the world be different?Globalization processes have taken place over the centuries but have gained particular importance in our present times, because we left ‘the golden age’ of globalization (1990–2010) already behind us. China, ever louder, talks about the need for a ‘new’ globalization, in line with its new aspirations as a pretender to the leadership position in the global economy. The Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2013, has been in the centre of its vision. It has become the foundation for China's foreign policy in the horizon of at least the middle of XXI century. It was designed to re-confirm China's unprecedented economic success of the past four decades, which to a great extent could be derived from a skilful use of the ‘traditional’ mechanisms of globalization.

The Rise of Xi Jinping and China’s New Era: Implications for the United States and Taiwan

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (01) ◽  
pp. 2040004
Author(s):  
DREW THOMPSON
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Chinese Economy ◽  
Xi Jinping ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Us ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
China’S Economy

Xi Jinping’s rise to power has heralded a new foreign policy that is more assertive and uncompromising toward China’s neighbors, the United States, and the rest of the world. This change presents challenges for the United States and Taiwan in particular which must be addressed with a sense of urgency due to Xi Jinping’s ambitious objectives and his firm grip on the levers of power which increase the likelihood that the Communist Party and government of China will seek to achieve them without delay. This paper reviews changes to Chinese foreign policy in the Xi Jinping era and argues how the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) over time has increased the threat to Taiwan, with concurrent risks for the United States. Taiwan and the US can address the challenge presented by China by strengthening their relationship to adapt to the new era under Xi Jinping’s leadership. According to CIA (2018), China’s economy now stands at approximately US$12 trillion, second only to the United States (CIA [2018]. World fact book). Unlike in 1978, China’s economy today is dependent on access to globally sourced raw materials, and access to overseas consumer markets for its industrial and consumer goods. This dependency on overseas markets has increased China’s global presence and interests, driving the need to protect them. The Chinese Government’s now ample resources have been allocated to both hard and soft power means toward this purpose. The PLA has greatly benefitted from economic development and the expansion of the Chinese economy, transforming from a backward institution focused on private-sector moneymaking into the sharpest tool of China’s power and influence. Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, China’s foreign policy and strategy have undergone a dramatic shift away from Deng Xiaoping’s focus on increasing domestic productivity and avoiding potentially costly overseas entanglements. The confluence of accumulated national wealth, diplomatic, economic, and military power, and the will to use those levers of power, has dramatic implications for the United States and China’s neighbors. A more assertive China, confident in its wealth, power, and international status, is increasingly unafraid of overt competition with its neighbors and the United States, unwilling to back down or compromise in the face of disputes. This dynamic has resulted in a new paradigm in the Indo-Pacific region that is unlike previous challenges of the past 40 years. The shift in China’s foreign policy and the PLA’s modernization threaten to challenge the credibility of US security assurances and alliances in the region, making the cultivation and strengthening of the US–Taiwan relationship, and the network of US bilateral alliances in the region an urgent imperative.

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