Constructing an analytical framework for explaining chinese foreign policy*

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-27
Author(s):  
Kevin G. Cai
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy

scholarly journals The Roots of China’s Assertiveness in East Asia

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-32
Author(s):  
Camilla T. N. Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
Authoritarian Leadership ◽  
Research Fields

In order to analyse the main driving forces in Chinese foreign policy, this article advances a neoclassical realist argument detailing how certain domestic dynamics that develop between an authoritarian leadership and the society when the country is ‘rising’ constrain its foreign policy behaviour in complex ways. Subsequently, the derived analytical framework is applied in an analysis of China’s ‘assertive turn’ in East Asia. It shows how certain authoritarian regime concerns intensify as China’s great power capabilities and influence grow, resulting in a different room to manoeuvre for Beijing in East Asia, which both encourages and enables a more assertive foreign policy behaviour. In the foreign policy literature, there is general agreement that regime type matters and has explanatory power when seeking to specify the domestic restraints on states’ foreign policy. However, there is still a lack of systematic conceptualisation of the regime type variable and theoretical explanations for how it matters. The neoclassical realist argument on the foreign policy of rising authoritarian states developed in this article is a step in this direction bridging the research fields of international relations, comparative politics and area studies.

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.

scholarly journals The Arctic as a “Strategic” and “Important” Chinese Foreign Policy Interest: Exploring the Role of Labels and Hierarchies in China’s Arctic Discourses

2021 ◽  
pp. 186810262110186
Author(s):  
Patrik Andersson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Precise Understanding ◽  
New Frontier ◽  
Political Priority

Research confirms that China is becoming more engaged in the Arctic. However, international relations scholarship often extrapolates from relatively few instances of activity to wide-ranging claims about Chinese priorities. Fortunately, Chinese political discourse is organised by labels that allow us to study how the Arctic is classified and ranked along China’s other foreign policy priorities. This article analyses two such classifications – “important maritime interest” and “strategic new frontier,” exploring how they have come about, what they mean, and how they add political priority to the Arctic. It argues that hierarchies are constructed in two ways: by adding gradients and by including/excluding categories of priority. It views categories as performative: they not only convey information about character and relative importance of interests but are also used for achieving different objectives. By focusing on foreign policy classifications, the article contributes to a more nuanced and precise understanding of China’s Arctic interests.

Revolution and Chinese Foreign Policy

1970 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 892
Author(s):  
John F. Copper ◽  
Peter Van Ness
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy

scholarly journals Higher Education as a Bridge between China and Nepal: Mapping Education as Soft Power in Chinese Foreign Policy

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Priya Gauttam ◽  
Bawa Singh ◽  
Vijay Kumar Chattu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Education ◽  
Education System ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Chinese Investment ◽  
Educational Aid ◽  
Cultural Dialogue

In this globalized world, education has become an important medium to enhance people-to-people contact. The Delores report of the International Commission on Education for the 21st century highlights the enormous potential of higher education to use globalization as a resource for bridging the knowledge gap and enriching cross-cultural dialogue. As a major contributor to soft power and an important field of public diplomacy, international education can have a wealth of advantages, including the ability to generate commercial value, promote a country’s foreign policy goals and interests, and contribute to economic growth and investment. The People’s Republic of China, well-known for being the world’s most populous nation and the global economic powerhouse, prioritizes the internationalization of the country’s higher education system. China is looking to expand its higher education program and carry out its diplomatic project in South Asia. In this sense, the South Asian zone, especially Nepal, is significant for China, where its educational diplomacy is playing as a “bridge between Sino- Nepal relations.” In this review, we describe the place and priority of “Education” in China’s foreign policy; explore China’s mediums of investment in Nepal’s education sector; and highlight the importance of educational aid in Sino-Nepal relations. Chinese educational aid to Nepal takes many forms, where Nepali students and officials engage with Chinese investment to enhance their career prospects and the education system in Nepal.

Debates on Changes in the Foreign Policy of Contemporary China (A Case Study of the English Language Academic Publications)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-150
Author(s):  
S. K. Pestsov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
English Language ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
World Politics ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Narrative Approaches ◽  
Regional Dynamics ◽  
Low Profile ◽  
Academic Publications ◽  
Radical Transformation

Due to a rapid economic growth over the past several decades China has significantly strengthened its international positions. This growth in its own turn was to a large extent due to a pragmatic and sound foreign strategy that the country has been pursuing since mid-1970s. However, in recent years both within and outside China there has been an on-going debate on the alleged radical transformation of the PRC’s perceptions of its national interests, its place in world politics, and its foreign policy. The variety of opinions becomes increasingly complicated as the number of discussants grows and new arguments are adduced in support of different positions. Whereas outside China this debate structures around the narrative of the Chinese assertiveness, within the country the main dispute is between the advocates of a traditional policy of ‘keeping a low profile’ (taoguang yanghui) and proponents of a new ‘striving for achievements’ (fenfa youwei) strategy. The present paper aims to provide a framework for a systematization of debates on the contemporary foreign policy of China in the English language academic literature based on two criteria: whether a researcher admits that the Chinese foreign policy is changing and how he assesses implications of these changes. Such an approach undoubtedly entails certain schematization of the presented views and arguments. However, it differs favorably from traditional, more narrative approaches to conceptualization of the debate since it establishes a clear, transparent theoretical framework aimed to identify the substantive core of the presented views. This, in turn, can bring about a better understanding of the current state and possible evolution of Chinese foreign policy in general. The author concludes that although these debates are far from being over, most researchers admit the PRC’s foreign policy strategy is undergoing a radical transformation. Since the latter half of 2000s there has been a steady trend in the foreign policy of China towards greater assertiveness. At the same time this transformation ensures continuity of the basic principles of Chinese diplomacy. All this means that further debates on the Chinese foreign policy should focus primarily on potential implications of this transformation for the PRC, the regional dynamics and international relations system as a whole.

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