China's Foreign Policy
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206602100303 |
| Date | 01 September 1966 |
| Published date | 01 September 1966 |
| Author | Charles Taylor |
| Subject Matter | Article |
China's
Foreign
Policy
Charles
Taylor*
Seventeen
years
after
the
victory
of
communism
in
China,
Western
leaders
are
still grappling
with
the
implications
of
that
victory
and
still
groping
for
ways
of
bringing
a
renascent
China
into
the
comity
of
nations.
But
while
there
is
general
agreement
that
China
poses
a
challenge
to
the
Western
world,
there
is
no
consensus
about
the nature
of
that
challenge
or
the
proper
means
of
meeting
it.
Too
often,
there
is
an
insufficient
awareness
that
China's
foreign
policy
is
complex,
and
that
it
derives
as
much
from
Chinese
history
and
traditions
as
from
the
communist
ideology
of
the
present
rulers.
Granted
this
complexity
understanding
is
hardly
helped
by
emotional responses
and
misleading
historical
analogies.
To
speak
of
containing
communism
is
a
dangerous
way
of
over
simplifying
China's nationalistic
ambitions
and
grievances.
To
talk
of
a
"Yellow
Peril"
is
to
revive
fears
that
are
no
more
relevant today
than
they
were
at
the
turn
of
the
century
It
is
either
ignorant
or
dishonest-or
a
combination
of
both-to
accuse
the
Chinese
of
having
plans
for
global
conquest
and
to
draw
parallels
with
Memn
Kampf
While
somewhat
more
realis-
tic,
the
patronizing
analysis
which
sees
China as
some
sort
of
mental
patient
in
the
throes
of
a
nervous breakdown
is
also
unlikely
to
produce
pertinent
policies.
In
fact,
while
there
have
been
basic
tactical
shifts
and some
major
mistakes
since
1949,
Chinese
foreign
policy
under
communism
has
been
generally
realistic
and
restrained. In
terms
of
Chinese
history
it
is
largely
understandable.
There
is,
above
all,
a
determination
to
reassert
China
as a
leading
world
power whose
voice will
be
heard
and
heeded
on
all
major
world issues.
Given
China's
size
and
potential
strength,
this
is
a
natural
ambition.
It
is
heightened
by
Chinese
feelings
of
pride
and
humiliation,
pride
in
the
continuity
and
excellence
of
their
civilization,
humiliation
at
the
way
in
which
they
were
Currently
on
the
Editorial
Board,
Toronto
Globe
and
Mail,
served
as
the
Globe's
Far
Eastern
correspondent
1962-65,
and
in
Peking
1964-65.
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