Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Over the past two decades, Chinese international relations scholars have embarked on a journey of innovative thinking in world politics. The endeavour has borne theoretical fruits that both complement existing paradigms and potentially constitute a distinct "Chinese school" of international relations. Contrary to common misconceptions, this emerging school seeks not to challenge Western theoretical hegemony outright, but rather to reflect the organic evolution of Chinese intellectual contributions, independent of direct government influence. Notably, such theories as gongsheng/symbiosis have, in diverging from Western IR frameworks, matured autonomously. The emergence of a "Chinese school" thus heralds a significant stride towards a more inclusive Global IR programme.

Among the most complicated issues in contemporary Chinese foreign policy is that of the Korean Peninsula and North Korea in particular. Critics have long complained, often internally, that China dare not use, and did not know how to use, the leverage it possessed. Why was this the case given that the relationship with North Korea is an asymmetric one with China the much more powerful side? Has China managed this asymmetry better more recently, and why? This article tries to address these questions. The relationship changed significantly in recent years when the Xi Jinping leadership decided to take unprecedented measures. Those actions have been consequential. China has emerged from being embarrassed by North Korea's nuclear and missile development to re-establishing itself as central to Korean and Northeast Asian security.

Over the years, this author has been involved in the 'Chinese school of International Relations (IR)' debate. In this article I try to reflect on these discussions or debates from which some insights can be retrieved to inform future research and further growth of a Chinese School of IR. Should a Chinese school be set as the goal? If so, how should this be pursued? This debate and the relevant efforts have proved to be a promising movement in the Chinese IR community, demonstrating that a Chinese school of IR is inevitable and it actually is evolving. A theory is a generalization or cluster of generalizations. This article argues that from the 'Tsinghua approach', a 'moral realism' has sprung up. Qin Yaqin's theorizing is centered around relationality and has been productive. A theory of symbiosis in the world community is being developed by a group of Shanghai-based scholars, and a 'symbiosis school' has grown up. Overall, four distinct theories of Chinese origins, i.e., relational theory, moral realism, tianxia theory and gongsheng/symbiotic theory, have appeared. Thus, IR theory-building in China in the first two decades of the 21st century has rendered the question 'why there is no IR theory in China' obsolete. (Pac Rev/GIGA)

AbstractChina today is playing an increasingly prominent role in the world in general and global governance in particular. What is revealing was China's experience in the G20, especially when China held the 2016 presidency for the G20 Hangzhou Summit. This article first examines leadership in international relations and then analyzes China's ideas and actions as the G20 president. It comes to the conclusion that China has played a leadership role throughout the process. That experience also points to the direction for the future of China in global governance.

In this article I examine the changes in China's foreign policy thinking and how they have influenced China's international behavior. I reveal how the leadership's beliefs guided and drove the Chinese state's behavior. When leaders believed that the world was in a "war and revolution" age, China was inclined to overlook the actual international order and institutions and backed revolutionary movements or armed struggles in other countries. The cognitive shift to "peace and development" in the 1980s, which was consolidated in the 1990s through two major debates, was fundamental in terms of strategically reshaping China's behavior, turning it from a revolutionary state into a quasi-status quo state. Besides embracing international institutions, China has also joined neighboring countries in creating new regional institutions and norms in East Asia. I argue that ideas, and not only perceptions, guide China's policymaking and international behavior. (Asian Perspect/GIGA)