China: foreign policy. Basic principles, international relations

China is one of the oldest states in the world. Preservation of their territories is the result of centuries-old traditions. China, whose foreign policy has unique features, consistently defends its interests and at the same time skilfully builds relations with neighboring states. Today, this country is confidently claiming world leadership and this became possible, in part, thanks to the "new" foreign policy. The three largest countries on the planet - China, Russia, the United States - is at the moment the most important geopolitical force, and the position of the Celestial Empire in this triad looks very convincing.

History of International Relations of China

For three millennia, China, whose frontier today includes historical territories, exists as a major and important power in the region. This vast experience of establishing relationships with various neighbors and consistently upholding one's own interests is creatively applied in modern foreign policy of the country.

On the international relations of China, the general philosophy of the nation, which is based largely on Confucianism, left its imprint. According to Chinese views, the true lord does not consider anything external, therefore international relations have always been considered as part of the domestic policy of the state. Another feature of the concept of statehood in China is that, according to their views, the Celestial Empire has no end, it covers the whole world. Therefore, China thinks of itself as a global empire, the "Middle State". China's foreign and domestic policies are based on the main position - Sino-centrism. This easily explains the rather active expansion of Chinese emperors in different periods of the country's history. At the same time, Chinese rulers have always believed that influence is much more significant than power, so China has established special relations with its neighbors. Its penetration into other countries is connected with the economy and culture.

Until the middle of the 19th century, the country existed within the imperial ideology of Greater China, and only the European invasion forced the Middle Kingdom to change its principles of relations with its neighbors and other states. In 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, and this leads to significant changes in foreign policy. Although socialist China declared partnership relations with all countries, but gradually the world was divided into two camps, and the country existed in its socialist wing, together with the USSR. In the 1970s, the PRC government changes this distribution of forces and states that China is between superpowers and third world countries, and that the Celestial Empire will never want to become a superpower. But by the 1980s the concept of the "three worlds" had begun to malfunction - a "co-ordinate theory" of foreign policy was emerging. The strengthening of the United States and its attempt to create a unipolar world led to the announcement by China of a new international concept and its new strategic course.

"New" Foreign Policy

In 1982, the government of the country proclaimed a "new China", which exists on the principles of peaceful coexistence with all states of the world. The country's leadership skillfully establishes international relations within its doctrine and at the same time respects its own interests, both economic and political. At the end of the 20th century, there has been an increase in US political ambitions, which feel themselves to be the only superpower that can dictate its own world order. This does not suit China, and, in a spirit of national character and diplomatic traditions, the country's leadership makes no statements and changes its behavior. Successful economic and domestic policy of China leads the state to the rank of the most successfully developing at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. At the same time the country diligently avoids joining to any of the sides of the numerous geopolitical conflicts of the world and tries to protect exclusively its interests. But the increased pressure from the United States sometimes makes the country's leadership take various steps. In China, there is a division of such concepts as state and strategic borders. The former are recognized as inviolable and inviolable, and the latter, as a matter of fact, have no limits. This is the sphere of the country's interests, and it extends to virtually all corners of the globe. This concept of strategic borders is the basis for modern Chinese foreign policy.

Geopolitics

At the beginning of the 21st century, the planet embraces the era of geopolitics, that is, there is an active redistribution of spheres of influence between countries. And not only superpowers declare their interests, but also small states that do not want to become raw materials appendages to developed countries. This leads to conflicts, including armed conflicts, and alliances. Each state is looking for the most beneficial path for development and the line of conduct. In this connection, the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China could not but change. In addition, at the present stage, the Celestial Empire has gained considerable economic and military power, which allows it to claim greater weight in geopolitics. First of all, China began to oppose the maintenance of a unipolar model of the world, it advocates multipolarity, and therefore, willy-nilly, it is necessary to face a conflict of interest with the United States. However, the PRC skillfully builds its own line of behavior, which, as usual, is focused on upholding its economic and internal interests. China does not directly declare claims for domination, but gradually conducts its "silent" expansion of the world.

Principles of foreign policy

China declares that its main mission is to preserve peace throughout the world and all support for universal development. The country has always been a supporter of peaceful coexistence with its neighbors, and this is the basic principle of the Celestial Empire in building international relations. In 1982, the country adopted the Charter, which recorded the basic principles of China's foreign policy. There are only 5:

- the principle of mutual respect for sovereignty and state borders;

- the principle of non-aggression;

- the principle of non-interference in the affairs of other states and the prevention of interference in the internal policy of their own country;

- the principle of equality in relations;

- the principle of peace with all states of the planet.

Later these basic postulates were deciphered and corrected taking into account changing world conditions, although their essence remained unchanged. The modern foreign policy strategy assumes that China will contribute in every possible way to the development of a multipolar world and stability of the international community.

The state proclaims the principle of democracy and respects the differences of cultures and the right of peoples to self-determination of their path. Also, the Celestial Empire opposes all forms of terrorism and in every way contributes to the creation of a fair economic and political world order. China seeks to establish friendly and mutually beneficial relations with its neighbors in the region, as well as with all countries on the planet.

These basic postulates are the basis of China's policy, but in each separate region in which the country has geopolitical interests, they are implemented in a specific strategy for building relationships.

China and the United States: partnership and confrontation

The relationship between China and the United States has a long and complicated history. These countries have long been in a latent conflict, which was connected with the opposition of America to the Communist regime of China and with the support of the Kuomintang. Reduction of tension begins only in the seventies of the 20th century, diplomatic relations between the United States and China were established in 1979. For a long time, the Chinese army was ready to defend the territorial interests of the country in the event of an attack by America, which considered the Celestial Empire its adversary. In 2001, the US Secretary of State said that she considered China not an opponent, but a competitor in economic relations, which meant a change in policy. America could not ignore the rapid growth of the Chinese economy and the buildup of its military power. In 2009, the US even offered the head of the Middle Kingdom to create a special political and economic format - G2, the union of the two superpowers. But China refused. He often disagreed with the policies of the Americans and did not want to take responsibility for it. Between countries, the volume of trade is constantly growing, China actively invests in US assets, all this only increases the need for partnerships in politics. But the United States periodically tries to impose its own behavior scenarios on China, to which the leadership of the Celestial Empire reacts with sharp resistance. Therefore, relations between these countries are constantly balancing between opposition and partnership. China says that it is ready to "make friends" with the US, but in no case will they allow their intervention in their policies. In particular, the constant stumbling block is the fate of the island of Taiwan.

China and Japan: complex neighborly relations

The mutual relations of the two neighbors were often accompanied by serious disagreements and strong influence on each other. From the history of these states there are several serious wars (the 7th century, the end of the 19th and the middle of the 20th century), which had serious consequences. In 1937, Japan attacked China. Germany and Italy gave her serious support. The Chinese army was considerably inferior to the Japanese, which enabled the Land of the Rising Sun to quickly capture the great northern territories of the Celestial Empire. And today the consequences of that war are an obstacle to establishing more friendly relations between China and Japan. But these two economic giants today are too closely linked by trade relations to allow themselves to conflict. Therefore, countries are moving towards a gradual rapprochement, although many contradictions remain unresolved. For example, China and Japan in no way will agree on several problem areas, including Taiwan, which does not allow countries to get too close. But in the 21st century, the relationship between these Asian economic giants became much warmer.

China and Russia: friendship and cooperation

Two huge countries, located on the same continent, simply can not but try to build friendly relations. The history of interaction between the two countries has been counting for more than four centuries. During this time there were different periods, bad and good, but it was impossible to interrupt communication between the states, they were too closely intertwined. In 1927, official relations between Russia and China were interrupted for several years, but at the end of the 30s, communications began to recover. After the Second World War, the communist leader Mao Zedong came to power in China, close cooperation between the USSR and the PRC began. But with the coming to power in the USSR N. Khrushchev, relations are deteriorating, and only thanks to great diplomatic efforts they manage to establish. With the restructuring of the relationship between Russia and China are significantly warming, although there are disputable issues between the countries. In the late 20th and early 21st century, China became an important strategic partner for Russia. At this time, trade ties are growing, the exchange of technologies is growing, political agreements are being concluded. Although China, as usual, first of all follows its interests and steadily defends them, and Russia sometimes has to make concessions to a big neighbor. But both countries understand the importance of their partnership, so today Russia and China are great friends, political and economic partners.

China and India: strategic partnership

These two largest Asian countries are connected by more than 2-thousand-year relationship. The present stage began in the late 40s of the 20th century, when India recognized the PRC and established diplomatic contacts with it. There are border disputes between the states, which hinders a greater rapprochement of states. However, the economic relations between India and China are only improving and expanding, which also entails a warming of political contacts. But China remains faithful to its strategy and is not inferior in its most important positions, carrying out a silent expansion, primarily to the markets of India.

China and South America

Such a big power like China has its own interests all over the world. And in the field of influence of the state not only the nearest neighbors or equal in the level of the country, but also the remote regions fall. Thus, China, whose foreign policy is significantly different from the behavior on the international arena of other superpowers, has been actively seeking for many years points of contact with the countries of South America. These efforts are successful. True to its policy, China concludes agreements with the countries of the region on cooperation and actively establishes trade ties. Chinese business in South America is connected with the construction of roads, power stations, oil and gas production, a partnership in the field of space and automotive industry is developing.

China and Africa

The Chinese government is pursuing the same active policy in the countries of Africa. The PRC is making serious investments in the development of the states of the "black" continent. Today, Chinese capital is present in the mining, manufacturing, military industries, in the construction of roads and industrial infrastructure. China adheres to a de-ideologized policy, respecting its principles of respect for other cultures and partnerships. Experts say that Chinese investments in Africa are already so serious that they change the economic and political landscape of this region. The influence of Europe and the United States on the countries of Africa is gradually decreasing, and thus the main goal of China - the multipolarity of the world - is being realized.

China and the countries of Asia

China, as an Asian country, pays much attention to neighboring states. At the same time, the declared basic principles are consistently implemented in foreign policy. Experts note that the Chinese government is extremely interested in peaceful and partner neighborhood with all Asian countries. Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan is a zone of special attention of China. There are many problems in this region that have worsened with the collapse of the USSR, but China is trying to resolve the situation in its favor. Serious successes were achieved by the PRC in establishing relations with Pakistan. Countries are jointly developing a nuclear program, which scares the United States and India. Today, China is negotiating the joint construction of an oil pipeline to provide the Middle Kingdom with this valuable resource.

China and North Korea

An important strategic partner of China is the nearest neighbor - the DPRK. The leadership of the Celestial Empire supported North Korea in the war in the middle of the 20th century and always expressed its readiness to render assistance, including military assistance, at the first necessity. China, whose foreign policy is always aimed at protecting its interests, is looking for a reliable partner in the Far Eastern region in Korea. Today, China is the largest trading partner of the DPRK, relations between the countries are developing positively. For both countries, partnerships in the region are very important, therefore they have excellent prospects for cooperation.

Territorial conflicts

Despite all diplomatic art, China, whose foreign policy is subtle and well thought-out, can not solve all international problems. The country has a number of disputed territories that complicate relations with other countries. A sick subject for the Middle Kingdom is Taiwan. For over 50 years, the leadership of the two Chinese republics can not resolve the question of sovereignty. The island's leadership has been supported by the US government for years, and this does not resolve the conflict. Another unsolvable problem is Tibet. China, whose border was defined in 1950, after the revolution, believes that Tibet has been part of the Celestial Empire since the 13th century. But indigenous Tibetans led by the Dalai Lama believe that they have the right to sovereignty. China pursues a tough policy towards the separatists, and so far no solution to this problem is foreseen. There are territorial disputes with China and with Turkestan, with Inner Mongolia, Japan. The Celestial Empire is very zealous towards its lands and does not want to make concessions. As a result of the collapse of the USSR, China was able to obtain part of the territories of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.