A Foreign Policy which Serves Growth (and Vice Versa)

From 1949 onwards, China’s foreign policy went through three stages: during Mao’s reign, China fought with all her neighbouring countries; during Deng Xiaoping’s leadership, China focused on a policy of domestic growth and withdrew from the international stage; in the last period, starting with the twenty-first century, China’s foreign policy was more active — some would say more aggressive, although avoiding any direct clashes. China has territorial conflicts with each of her neighbouring countries. In addition to the traditional fighting on the northern and western mainland in Central Asia (India, Russia), China has also opened new border conflicts in the Sea of China and the Pacific gulf (Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines), the ultimate aim of which is no longer to defend (often contested) borders but, rather, to recover losses dealt by unequal treaties of the twenty-first century. It is no longer a matter of border conflict but of regional leadership against rival powers (the USA, Japan and India). To a large extent, China’s foreign policy is commanded by geopolitics: border defence and regional leadership. Now that China’s economy is integrated into the world economy, the defence of borders is extended to the whole world. Moreover, regional leadership is not only contested in each particular region, but also across the world.