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China’s Foreign Policy

As China becomes more powerful and assumes a more prominent role in the international arena,

understanding its foreign policy becomes increasingly important. In order to do this, one must

understand China’s political system as well as the national narratives that it uses to justify and

explain its international actions. China’s political apparatus, defined by the one-party rule of the

Chinese Communist Party (CCP), encompasses a wide variety of actors with different and

sometimes conflicting foreign policy interests. China’s foreign policy revolves around the idea of

a “peaceful rise,” in which China seeks to becomes more powerful and prosperous without

hurting other countries or fundamentally changing the current international system. Running

alongside the idea of a peaceful rise, and sometimes conflicting with it, is the nationalist

narrative of China gaining its rightful place as a great power after a “century of humiliation,” in

which China was exploited and attacked by other countries. This nationalist attitude encourages

China to be more aggressive in pursuing some of its foreign policy interests, and makes it

particularly sensitive to being taken advantage of, or taking any actions which could be seen as

diminishing its own power.

A thorough understanding of China’s foreign policy must incorporate an understanding

of China’s political system, the institution from which foreign policy decisions are ultimately

made. The structure of China’s political system has no parallel in the western world. It revolves

around the primacy of the Chinese Communist Party, the only permitted political party in China.

The structure of China’s political system is extremely hierarchical. The most important political

institutions are the Central Politburo of the Communist Party China, consisting of 25 members;

and the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), consisting of 7 members of the Central Politburo.
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The single most powerful person in China is the General Secretary of the Communist Party, who

is also a member of the Central Politburo and the PSC - this person is commonly referred to as

China’s “paramount leader.” The current General Secretary is Xi Jinping.

The people in these organizations, in particular the PSC and the General Secretary, are

the chief decision makers when it comes to China’s foreign policy. Although there are many

institutions involved in shaping and implementing China’s foreign policy, they all do so under

the explicit direction of party leaders (at least in theory). Often, the main purpose of these

institutions is to provide relevant information to party leaders and, when needed, give advise on

how they should act on such information. For example, whenever party leaders need guidance or

suggestions on how to approach a foreign policy issue, they create “Leading Small Groups”

composed of experts on the issue, who study the topic and give their advice and

recommendations to the Party leaders. Institutions in China which are specifically foreign policy

related, such as the Foreign Affairs Office, have a similar role: gather foreign policy information,

provide the information to Party leaders, and, when needed, manage the implementation of the

Party’s agenda.1

The formulation and implementation of China’s foreign policy is complicated by the

large numbers of organizations involved in the process. As China’s international presence has

grown, the number of Chinese ministries and institutions involved with, or affected by, foreign

policy has increased. Each of these organizations have their own specific interests and desires

when it comes to foreign policy, and they are all competing to make their voices heard among

the party leaders. Further complicating the foreign policy process is the vagueness that Party

leaders often use in expressing foreign policy guidelines. The ambiguity serves a useful purpose:

1
Jakobson, Linda, and Ryan Manuel. “How Are Foreign Policy Decisions Made in China?” Asia & the
Pacific Policy Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2016, pp. 101–110., doi:10.1002/app5.121.
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it gives the Party leaders and their underlings wide room in which to maneuver, and shields them

from accountability if things go wrong. However, it can lead to a lack of clarity and

contradictory actions on the part of those that are tasked with implementing these guidelines. For

example, Xi’s statements on how aggressively China should pursue its territorial claims in the

South and East China Seas were so vague as to be basically meaningless. He advocated a

“determined response” to challenges to China’s territorial claims, but also said that China should

not take any action that would “endanger stability.” This statement could be used to justify

nearly any action with regard to China’s maritime claims. In recent years, however, Xi has taken

steps to better coordinate China’s foreign policy, mainly by assuming direct control of foreign

policy organizations including the Leading Small Groups mentioned above.23

Understanding the basics of China’s political system is not enough to understand the big

picture of its foreign policy. One must also understand its ideological underpinnings. There are

ideological narratives at play in both how China presents itself to the world and how its citizens

expect it to behave abroad. Externally, China has tried to quell international anxiety about its rise

by promoting the idea of a “peaceful rise,” attempting to assure the international community that

China can grow without harming other countries or significantly altering the international status

quo. China has emphasized that it has nothing to gain by challenging the current international

order; its rapid economic growth is dependent on its highly lucrative economic relationships with

other countries, and rather than change the international economic system from which it benefits,

it seeks to integrate into and become a bigger part of it. Over the last several decades, China has

2
Jakobson, Linda, and Ryan Manuel. “How Are Foreign Policy Decisions Made in China?” Asia & the
Pacific Policy Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2016, pp. 101–110., doi:10.1002/app5.121.
3
Przychodniak, Marcin. “A New Strategy or Just a Change of Tactics? The Main Elements of
China's Foreign Policy during Xi Jinping's First Term.” The Polish Quarterly of
International Affairs, vol. 3, 2017, pp. 5–17.
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actively pursued membership in nearly every major international economic institution, and has

developed trade agreements with every major power. Overall, much of China’s foreign policy

revolves around the promotion of a peaceful rise, defined by the ideas of harmony, integration,

cooperation, and mutually beneficial relationships. This is the basic framework from which

China articulates its foreign policy objectives to the outside world.45

Domestically, nationalism is the most significant ideological narrative that shapes how

China approaches the outside world. China’s nationalism is shaped by the idea that Chinese is

emerging out of a “century of humiliation,” marked by the Opium Wars, colonization by

European countries, Japanese occupation, and what it perceives generally as exploitation by

other great powers, including the United States. This narrative has created a desire in China to

expunge itself of its past humiliations by restoring its national dignity and claiming its rightful

place as a great power. Over the last several decades, this narrative has become more popular

among Chinese citizens, demonstrated by the increase in nationalist protests over China’s

territorial claims and other nationalist issues. Although the leaders of the Communist Party are

not democratically elected, they derive their legitimacy from popular support and are careful not

to take actions that would anger the public. China’s territorial claims, including its claims to

Taiwan, are the issues most affected by China’s nationalist ideology. China has disputed

maritime borders with Japan in the East China Sea, and further disputes with many South Asian

countries in the South China Sea. On land, China has several border disputes, most notably with

India. China’s aggressive pursuit of its claims to these areas is emboldened by its desire for

4
Lampton, David M. “China's Foreign Policy.” Great Decisions, Foreign Policy Association,
2014, pp. 73–84, www.jstor.org/stable/43681117.
5
Bhattacharya, Abanti. “Chinese Nationalism and China's Assertive Foreign Policy.” The
Journal of East Asian Affairs, vol. 21, no. 1, 2007, pp. 235–262.
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“national dignity” and its sensitivity to being exploited or taken advantage of. If China gives up

its claims to any of these areas, it will face backlash among its citizens which could damage the

legitimacy of the Party.678

China’s foreign policy is shaped by a variety of political and ideological factors. Its

political system is characterized by the concentration of power in a relatively small number of

people in the Central Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee. Xi Jinping, the General

Secretary, is the ultimate decision-maker when it comes to foreign policy. There are many

institutions that are tasked with aiding the Party leaders in the foreign policy process, and these

institutions often compete with one another for power and for the attention of Party leaders.

Furthermore, the foreign policy guidelines issued by Xi and other Party leaders are often vague,

giving China’s foreign policy actors a wide range of options to use to pursue their goals,

resulting in a foreign policy that at times is uncoordinated. China’s foreign policy is also

influenced by various ideological narratives that it presents to the outside world and that are

imbued within the Chinese ethos. The idea of a “peaceful rise” is the narrative that China uses to

explain its foreign policy to the international community, while the nationalist narrative of

restoring China’s national dignity after “a century of humiliation” explains China’s aggressive

territorial claims and the Communist Party’s fear of delegitimization.

6
Sørensen, Camilla T. N. “Is China Becoming More Aggressive? A Neoclassical Realist
Analysis.” Asian Perspective, vol. 37, 2013, pp. 363–385.
7
Bhattacharya, Abanti. “Chinese Nationalism and China's Assertive Foreign Policy.” The
Journal of East Asian Affairs, vol. 21, no. 1, 2007, pp. 235–262.
8
Lampton, David M. “China's Foreign Policy.” Great Decisions, Foreign Policy Association,
2014, pp. 73–84, www.jstor.org/stable/43681117.
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Works Cited

Bhattacharya, Abanti. “Chinese Nationalism and China's Assertive Foreign Policy.” The Journal of East
Asian Affairs, vol. 21, no. 1, 2007, pp. 235–262.

Lampton, David M. “China's Foreign Policy.” Great Decisions, Foreign Policy Association,
2014, pp. 73–84, www.jstor.org/stable/43681117.

Jakobson, Linda, and Ryan Manuel. “How Are Foreign Policy Decisions Made in China?” Asia
& the Pacific Policy Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2016, pp. 101–110., doi:10.1002/app5.121.

Sørensen, Camilla T. N. “Is China Becoming More Aggressive? A Neoclassical Realist

Analysis.” Asian Perspective, vol. 37, 2013, pp. 363–385.
7 Tanner Elias

Przychodniak, Marcin. “A New Strategy or Just a Change of Tactics? The Main Elements of
China's Foreign Policy during Xi Jinping's First Term.” The Polish Quarterly of
International Affairs, vol. 3, 2017, pp. 5–17.