How has Chinese FP change since Mao and how important are economics…?

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How has Chinese FP change since Moa and how important are economics…?

Blakeley Nixon

FIR 224

Throughout History, China and her foreign policy has been the focus of much controversy and debate in the fields of History and International Relations.  The size, geographical position, culture and politics of China make it, and have made it one of the most important actors in regional and international affairs.  The aims and nature of Chinese foreign policy have been through a number of important changes in the twentieth century.  

This essay will examine the principles of Chinese Foreign Policy after the death of leader Mao Tse Tung and will discuss the importance economics has on the formulation of post Mao foreign Policy.  This essay will first discuss the principle aims and practises of Chinese foreign policy under Mao as a basis to compare the post Mao characteristics.  The essay will then examine the major aspects of China’s foreign policy that occurred during and after Mao’s leadership in terms of the relations with the west, relations with the Soviet bloc, relations with third world revolutionary groups and the so called opposition to hegemonism.  Through studying these factors the essay will examine the importance of economic factors in china’s foreign policy since Mao.  As an example of how China works in the international system the essay will discuss the relations modern China has with its major neighbours in terms of military, political and, importantly, economic factors.

In a discussion of post Mao Chinese foreign policy it is important to understand the foreign policy during the leadership of Mao Tse Tung. It is first important to note that Mao’s handling of Chinese foreign policy was not a single phase in itself and did not follow a single characteristic and it is also important to note that many principles of current Sino-foreign relations stem back to Mao.  In 1949 after decades of civil war and political unrest the Chinese Communist party founded the “Peoples Republic of China”.  Mao Tse Tung, the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party was now the political leader of over a billion Chinese people.  Under Mao major social and internal changes were undertaken alongside a noticeable change in the relations with outsiders.  

The first major change was the five-year plan, between 1952 and 1957, during these years China opened up to a foreign state, the Soviet Union, in a way never before seen in China (1, pp47).  This can be analysed as part of Mao’s “let foreign things serve China”(1,pp47) attitude, an attitude that, if vague, encouraged the Chinese to make a distinction between the damaging and the helpful elements of foreign influences.  This period also saw Mao introducing the five principles of peaceful coexistence, principles that, at least publicly would become the backbone to the overt actions of China’s foreign relations.  These principles, suggested by premier Zhou Enlai, claim to base China relations on mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence (8). The validity of these principles is obviously in question and it would seem that many could be described as being contradictory to China’s practice of foreign policy especially during the Cold War.  China’s threatening stance over Taiwan, the invasion of Tibet and support for North Korea during the Korean war during this period can be argued to contradict the claims made by the five principles.

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China’s relations with the two major cold war super-powers were often pivotal in Chinese decision-making under Mao.  It seemed that during the early cold war years, China began to emerge from her self-imposed exile as it opened up to the Soviet Union.  The later Maoist era however also saw a turn away from Soviet domination during the early to mid sixties partly due to what the Chinese often refer to as “Soviet Chauvinism”(6,Liu Huaqiu article) and an approach to what can be called the “Period of Cooperation” (2,pp280) with America.  One of China’s major advantages during the Cold War ...

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