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Event Report

Nepal Institute for International Co-operation and Engagement (NIICE) organised a webinar titled “Chinese Foreign Policy under XiJinping: Continuities and Changes”, presented by Prof. Zhiqun Zhu. Prof Zhu currently serves as the Chair, Department of International Relations at Bucknell University, USA. The session traced China’s Foreign Policy beginning from Mao’s Foreign Policy strategies, the changing policy perspective of Deng Xiaoping and the rise of XI Jinping in the international arena.

The Metamorphosis of China’s Foreign Policy

Prof. Zhu noted that the Chinese foreign policy has been undergoing major transformations since the beginning of the 21st century. While the emergence of Xi Jinping as a strong leader brought about many changes in Chinese politics and foreign policy, it was essentially Deng Xiaoping’s dictum Tao Guang Yang Hui (韬光养晦, roughly translated as “keeping a low profile”) seems to be a thing of the past, giving way to You Suo Zuo Wei (有所作为, roughly “getting some things done”) that set off the chain of events that triggered the revision of China’s “Looking Outward Policy”.

Xi Jinping’s Influence on Beijing’s Foreign Policy Narratives

Since taking over the Presidency of the Communist Party of China (CCP) in 2013, the Chinese Premier consolidated his power at the 19th Party Congress in fall 2017, by adding the Xi Jinping thought into the CCP Constitution; thereby setting the stage for China’s Foreign Policy to be determined by the 3As- Ambition, Assertiveness and Aggression; the examples being issues regarding China’s sovereignty, such as the South China Sea and Taiwan to name a few.

Prof. Zhu observes that China’s enhanced power and growing influence globally, has also resulted in increased friction with neighbours and distant members of the world order alike. When China was weak, no one seemed to see it as a threat since it caused no discomfort, let alone a superpower like the United States or an industrial power like Japan. But as an economic and military giant now, China has stoked anxieties among rivals and neighbours. As a result, its relations with the United States, Japan, India, Vietnam, Australia, and several other countries have all become more difficult and even deteriorated in recent years.

Challenges and Future Prospects

In his concluding remarks Prof. Zhiqun Zhu observes that China’s international image remains mixed and even poor in some parts of the world. Various global opinion polls conducted by Pew and others suggest that in general China enjoys favourable views in many parts of the developing world but more negative views in the West. He also notes that, as far as the South China Sea controversy is concerned, China is perceived to be violating international law and bullying small countries in its neighbourhood, and no country has stepped forward to defend China’s position. In Africa and Latin America, China is often criticized for not helping promote governance, environment or human rights while focusing on trade and investment and extracting resources.

This leads Prof Zhu to believe that, while not all such charges against China hold water, China does need to work harder and do a better public relations job in presenting its preferred image of an open, peaceful, caring and responsible global power. With a deficit in soft power, there will be a limit to what China can achieve in its foreign policy.

Prepared by Moksha Pillai, Research Intern at NIICE.