The concept of 'harmonious world' has become the basis for the new principles and goals of Chinese foreign policy under the fourth generation leadership. The question remains, however, about the exact meanings of these principles and slogans, and their implications for Chinese foreign policy. This is the first edited volume that attempts to address this significant question, and its insightful contributions elucidates new dimensions of Chinese foreign policy and their implications for China's relations with the world.
As scholars and publics look for alternatives to what is understood as a violent Western world order, many claim that China can provide such an alternative through the Chinese dream of a harmonious world. This book takes this claim seriously and examines its effects by tracing the notion across several contexts: the policy documents and speeches that launched harmony as an official term under previous president Hu Jintao; the academic literatures that asked what a harmonious world might look like; the propaganda and mega events that aimed to illustrate it; the online spoofing culture that is used to criticise and avoid "harmonization"; and the incorporation of harmony into current president Xi Jinping’s "Chinese dream". This book finds contemporary Chinese society and international relations saturated with harmony. Yet, rather than offering an alternative to problems in "Western" thought, it counter-intuitively argues that harmony has not taken place, is not taking place, and will not take place. The argument unfolds as a contribution to wider debates on time, space and multiplicity in world politics. Offering analysis of the important but understudied concept of harmony, Nordin provides new and creative insights into wider contemporary issues in Chinese politics, society and scholarship. The book also suggests a creative and novel methodology for studying foreign policy concepts more broadly, drawing on critical thinkers in innovative ways and in a new empirical context. It will be of interest to students and scholars of IR, Chinese foreign and security policy and IR theory.
Focusing on the role of harmony in Chinese international relations (IR) theory, this book seeks to illuminate Chinese understandings of world politics and foreign policy. Taking a decolonial approach and rooted in China's cultural and epistemic terms, the title first describes three traditions of the concept of harmony in ancient Chinese thought and then analyses three strands of contemporary Chinese IR theory that draw upon this traditional thinking. Despite their similarities in advocating a radical deepening of China's relations with other countries and intense interdependence as essential for global peace and prosperity, these Chinese IR theories understand the concept of harmony in different ways and present different recommendations for achieving harmonious relations. Based on this framework of harmonious IR, Chinese social scientists also argue for new directions in Chinese foreign policy in a manner that is complementary with China's policymaking system. In the case-study section, the authors apply harmonious IR perspectives to the Belt and Road Initiative and demonstrate how a better understanding of Chinese IR theories can shed light on motivations behind Chinese foreign policy. This work will be a valuable reference for scholars, students, policymakers, and general readers interested in Chinese politics, Chinese foreign policy, Chinese IR theory, and ancient Chinese philosophy.
The "rise of China" has become a ubiquitous and often menacing term in global politics. China's Quest for Global Order: From Peaceful Rise to Harmonious World, by Rosita Dellios, PhD, and R. James Ferguson, PhD, examines how China's leadership has responded to this depiction and the strategic approaches that have been developed to ameliorate threat perceptions. Borrowing from its own Confucian heritage to promote a harmonious world policy, China's contribution to world order is likely to be more robust than the "responsible stakeholder" epithet upon which the West has pinned its collective hopes. The book interprets China's quest for global order from Chinese perspectives, old and new, and provides the relevant philosophical and historical background to engage the reader in the ensuing debates.
Two major features of international relations at the beginning of the 21st century are global governance and an ascendant China. Whether or not China will ultimately sinicize global governance or become assimilated into global norms remains both a theoretical and a practical challenge. This book offers an understanding of China’s intervention policy, an understanding which is vital to overcome anxiety precipitated by the theoretical and practical challenges.
Confucianism has shaped a certain perception of Chinese security strategy, symbolized by the defensive, nonaggressive Great Wall. Many believe China is antimilitary and reluctant to use force against its enemies. It practices pacifism and refrains from expanding its boundaries, even when nationally strong. In a path-breaking study traversing six centuries of Chinese history, Yuan-kang Wang resoundingly discredits this notion, recasting China as a practitioner of realpolitik and a ruthless purveyor of expansive grand strategies. Leaders of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) prized military force and shrewdly assessed the capabilities of China's adversaries. They adopted defensive strategies when their country was weak and pursued expansive goals, such as territorial acquisition, enemy destruction, and total military victory, when their country was strong. Despite the dominance of an antimilitarist Confucian culture, warfare was not uncommon in the bulk of Chinese history. Grounding his research in primary Chinese sources, Wang outlines a politics of power that are crucial to understanding China's strategies today, especially its policy of "peaceful development," which, he argues, the nation has adopted mainly because of its military, economic, and technological weakness in relation to the United States.
When Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, China symbolically asserted its role as an emerging world power—a position it is not likely to relinquish anytime soon. China's growing economy, military reforms, and staggering productivity have contributed to its ascendancy as a major player in international affairs. Western scholars have attempted to explain Chinese foreign policy using historical or theoretical evidence, but until this volume, few studies from a Chinese perspective have been published in English. In Challenges to Chinese Foreign Policy: Diplomacy, Globalization, and the Next World Power, editors Yufan Hao, C. X. George Wei, and Lowell Dittmer reveal how Chinese scholars view their nation's rise to global dominance. Drawing from a wealth of foreign relations experts including scholars native to the region, this volume examines the unique challenges China faces as it adapts in its role as a world leader, and it analyzes how China's evolving international relationships are shaping the global landscape of the twenty-first century.
This volume examines the Chinese foreign policy framework today and traces its evolution since the post-Mao era. Through the consideration of China's relations with the major powers and its management of various challenges ranging from territorial disputes to energy security, it investigates China's pursuit of major power status and influence in peaceful international scenarios. The author critically analyzes China's foreign policy from Chinese leaders' evolving worldview of the changing international environment. As China emerges as a major power and the second largest economy in the world, anyone interested in international politics and scenarios as well as China's foreign policy needs a basic, insightful reference book like this.
This book offers a comprehensive review of the Communist Party of China's approach to diplomacy, through an extensive evaluation of the major practices and theories behind the Party's diplomacy, with its main achievements in its 90 years of diplomacy highlighted. It delves into the views held by the Communist Party of China on the changing times, the international system, national interests, and developments in China's diplomacy. Other topics covered at length include China's traditional and non-traditional diplomatic practices as well as basic characteristics of the Party's diplomacy.Few books have touched on the Communist Party of China's diplomatic history in detail. China's Diplomacy: Theory and Practice fills the gap by shedding insights on the Communist Party of China's global strategies and diplomatic planning, contributing to the building an international relations theory with Chinese characteristics. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of China's international relations from the forward-looking analyses on the Party's core role in leading China's diplomacy, and the theoretical explanations behind the practices.
With new assertiveness and prominence, China under President Xi Jinping is rightly considered an emerging and aggressive superpower backed by growing economic and impressive military strength. In this meticulous and balanced assessment, Robert G. Sutter traces China’s actions under Xi Jinping, including the many challenges they post to the international status quo. He provides a comprehensive analysis of newly prominent Chinese unconventional levers of power and influence in foreign affairs that were previously disguised, hidden, denied or otherwise neglected or unappreciated by specialists. Sutter considers the domestic issues that preoccupy Beijing and the global factors economic and political factors that complicate and constrain as well as enhance China’s advance to international prominence.
