Author: Jennifer Fuentes Rodriguez

China’s official foreign policy strategy is known as Peaceful Development, and it is focused on global, harmonious growth. The purpose of the Peaceful Development strategy is to counter the Western notion that China’s “rise” is inherently dangerous while linking its development with that of other nations. 

It is guided by five main principles:

1. Peaceful development: China will not initiate wars or act in a predatory manner. 
2. Cooperative development: China will treat each nation as an equal member of the international community with mutual trust and mutual development.
3. Common development: China will assist world development while developing itself, and it will not act with selfish motives and/or actions.
4. Win-win development: China will broaden common interests among nations.
5. Mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity: China will not involve itself in the domestic matters of other countries.  

The principles of peaceful development are rooted in Confucianism, a philosophical outlook and attitude with large influence over the Chinese people. Confucianism’s main values are benevolence, trustfulness, equality, and forbearance, and it holds that the cultivation of these traits begins in the individual and then expands into society. For this reason, China’s desire to create a peaceful, stable international order is an extension of Confucian ideals of benevolence. The Confucian roots can be found in Peaceful Development’s Chinese name, where peace is known as 和平 (heping), literally translating to harmony and peace. The literal meaning is contrary to Western notions of peace, where it is simply the absence of war without mention of harmonious habitation. China’s understanding of peace is one of both harmony and benevolence that advances a narrative of non-aggression in the past and future. 

However, China has not always acted in accordance with the peaceful development principles. Chinese troops engage in skirmishes along the Indo-China border, and China has acted aggressively in the South China Sea by ignoring international law (UNCLOS) over disputed islands, building military installations, and threatening foreign fishermen. The Belt and Road Initiative was officially created to assist developing nations by providing loans for infrastructure, but some countries report concerns over unsustainable loan debt and predatory lending. Apart from military aggressiveness, contradictions to benevolence are also found in China’s economic and cultural interactions with other countries. While its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was created to assist developing nations by providing loans for infrastructure, there is fear of unsustainable loan debt and predatory lending. Government-run Confucian Institutes have been established to promote Chinese culture and language internationally, but they have become controversial due to curriculum control from the Chinese state. 

The contradictions found in Chinese foreign policy lie in the contrast between the international system China must survive in and its national interests. With a liberal international order in opposition to authoritarianism, China must present itself as a responsible power if it wishes to interact with the global community. Yet, China must also be cognizant of its domestic security that is based on sovereignty and territorial integrity, leading to perceived territorial, economic, and cultural aggressiveness.

China’s current foreign policy is largely influenced by its history with the tributary system that was in effect from the Han dynasty in 202 BC to the 19th century. In this system, neighboring states paid tribute by bringing native products and luxury items to the Chinese emperor in exchange for economic and security benefits from China. Part of the system involved the “kow-tow”, where heads of state bowed to the Chinese emperor to acknowledge China’s cultural sovereignty over their own. The Sino-centric system was based on China’s name as the Middle Kingdom, 中国 (zhongguo), or everything between heaven and earth. This meant that China’s prestige was rooted in its view of itself as the center of civilization ruled by a leader in possession of a “Mandate of Heaven” to govern the nation and its tributaries. 

Today, while the tributary system is not in effect, the Chinese government views wielding influence on the global stage as a natural continuation of the “Mandate of Heaven”. In 2012, President Xi Jinping set forth the “China Dream” which aimed to reclaim China’s previous glory. This includes restoring Chinese prominence in Asia, regaining control over territories (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang), and gaining respect from global powers. President Xi Jinping is currently making the China Dream a reality by strengthening China’s presence in Southeast Asia with ASEAN, increasing government control over Hong Kong, and broadening China’s international reach through health diplomacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bearing in mind China’s previous role in Asia, in the context of the China Dream, it sees its destiny as a return to the prestige of its tributary days. 

A return to prominence is also associated with the Century of Humiliation, a period from 1839-1949 where foreign incursions led to an erosion of Chinese sovereignty and prestige. China points to the First Opium War in 1839 as the beginning of their ‘humiliation’, where it fought Great Britain to try to end illegal opium imports into China and address a trade imbalance between the two nations. The war resulted in a British victory, and Britain asked for Hong Kong, the opening of five treaty ports for international trade, and most favored nation status. To the Chinese, a consequence of the war was a series of unequal treaties that continued with the Second Opium War, where China was further ‘humiliated’ by Great Britain, France, and the United States. This war resulted in the burning of the Summer Palace, which had great cultural significance, by British troops. 

According to the current Chinese narrative, it wasn’t until 1949 under Mao Zedong’s leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that the ‘humiliation’ came to an end. Since then, overcoming the Century of Humiliation has provided the CCP with domestic legitimacy and the impetus to return to tributary-like days. Due to the CCP’s significant role in ending ‘humiliation’, the party is seen as the only entity which can steward the country to the “China Dream”. The CCP is determined to avoid further subjugation at the hands of foreign powers, and interprets many decisions by Western actors as attempts to hold China back from its proper place on the global stage.