{"id":1037,"date":"2025-10-02T04:01:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/china-s-foreign-policy-dilemmas\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:01:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:01:39","slug":"china-s-foreign-policy-dilemmas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/blogs\/emerged-powers-in-the-21st-century\/china-s-foreign-policy-dilemmas\/","title":{"rendered":"China S Foreign Policy Dilemmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"content column wide left blog_post content view\" id=\"content\">\n<div class=\"edit image\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/blogs\/emerged-powers-in-the-21st-century\/china-s-foreign-policy-dilemmas\/131427-2-eng-gb\/china-s-foreign-policy-dilemmas_full_view.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by faungg\">\n\t<\/div>\n<article class=\"fader\">\n<header class=\"contents\">\n<div class=\"share\">\n\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    var addthis_config = {\n        ui_language = 'en'\n    }\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis sharing\">\n\t<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style\" addthis:title=\"China\u2019s foreign policy dilemmas\">\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_twitter\" tw:via=\"thebrokeronline\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_facebook\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_pinterest_share\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_4\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_compact\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style\"><\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_config = data_track_addressbar;<\/script><br \/>\n\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n\t<!-- AddThis Button END -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"addthis article_options\">\n\t\t<!-- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/mandrill\/subscription\/add\/16883\/16884\">Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t -->\n    \t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChina\u2019s foreign policy dilemmas<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"pubDate\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/experts-and-authors\/van-den-berg-maarten\/\">Maarten van den Berg<\/a>\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t02 June 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"body contents\">\n\t<!-- body --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">On Monday 18 April, a crowd of 120 or so gathered in the hall of the Free University in Amsterdam for a lecture by Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Renmin University of China. In his lecture, the seventh in a series on \u2018global values\u2019 organized by the <a href=\"http:\/\/sid-nl.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Society for International Development<\/a> (SID) Netherlands Chapter, Mr Yinhong assessed China\u2019s adherence to \u2018universal norms\u2019 in its efforts to address global security challenges such as nuclear proliferation and transnational terrorism.<b>&nbsp;<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><b>More responsive&#8230;<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">According to the professor, China has made \u2018remarkable progress\u2019 on both counts, due to its rapid rise in importance as a world power, and the steady expansion and deepening of its economic and political relations with the rest of the world. As China\u2019s impact is increasing, the stakes of its foreign policy are rising too, and the world expects China to take on international responsibilities. Chinese policy makers acknowledge this. Indeed, Mr Yinhong is happy to notice that China is increasingly responsive, and more than ever prepared to assume international responsibilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">This is evidenced by China\u2019s contributions to the cause of nuclear non-proliferation in its dealings with North Korea. Mr Yinhong lauds his country\u2019s \u2018protracted, arduous and partially effective efforts these past five or six years aimed at peaceful denuclearization of North Korea\u2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><b>&nbsp;&#8230;but not at all costs<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">However, China\u2019s apparent willingness to take a stand against international nuclear proliferation does not make it a herald of the cause at all costs. In the case of North Korea, the universal good of non-proliferation did not outweigh China\u2019s particular interest in maintaining a more or less favourable regime in a neighbouring country. Thus in 2009, China unilaterally stepped up economic aid to North Korea without asking even as much as a gesture from the regime to show its willingness to discuss its nuclear programme.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><b>Domestic issues and interests<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">For Mr Yinhong, the case of North Korea illustrates that China\u2019s foreign policy is still riddled with tensions and dilemmas. For one thing, at home China is facing huge economic and social bottlenecks, forcing the government to give priority to domestic needs and demands over foreign policy concerns. And there are competing foreign policy interests within the Chinese government as well, which can result in ambiguous or indeterminate policies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">And then there is that cultural thing. As Mr Yinhong explains, the Chinese \u2018way of thinking\u2019 is imbued with a particularistic disposition. This, together with a more prudent or conservative political culture, makes China more reluctant to embrace universal causes and make international commitments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">But then again, isn\u2019t it precisely a sign of China\u2019s rise in importance as a world power that it is in a position to pick and choose where and when to promote universal norms or pursue a more narrowly conceived, national interest?<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><i>For a recent discussion of China&#8217;s foreign policy, which took place at the Oslo seminar \u2018Emerging Powers in the 21st century&#8217;, see the earlier post in this blog <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\" target=\"_blank\">&#8216;China: the urgency for a new foreign policy strategy.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"credit\">Photo credit main picture: Photo by faungg<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<!-- body -->\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"commentform content column wide left\">\n<div class=\"disqus_content\">\n\t\t\t<a name=\"comments\" id=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"disqus_thread\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_shortname = 'broker'; \/\/ required: replace example with your forum shortname\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_identifier = '6686';\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tfunction trackComment(comment)\n\t\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\tfunction disqus_config() {\n\t\t\t\t\tthis.callbacks.onNewComment = [function() { \n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t\t}];\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t(function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tvar dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text\/javascript'; dsq.async = true;\n\t\t\t\t\tdsq.src = '\/\/' + disqus_shortname + 'https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/blogs\/emerged-powers-in-the-21st-century\/.disqus.com\/embed.js';\n\t\t\t\t\t(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq);\n\t\t\t\t})();\n\t\t\t<\/script><br \/>\n\t\t\t<!--\n\t\t\t<noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\/?ref_noscript\">comments powered by Disqus.<\/a><\/noscript>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\" class=\"dsq-brlink\">comments powered by <span class=\"logo-disqus\">Disqus<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t-->\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China\u2019s foreign policy dilemmas Maarten van den Berg | [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template_2.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1037","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>China\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s foreign policy dilemmas \/ Emerged powers in the 21st century \/ Blogs - The Broker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On Monday 18 April, a crowd of 120 or so gathered in the hall of the Free University in Amsterdam for a lecture by Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Renmin University of China. 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