Critical Decade, A: China's Foreign Policy (2008-2018). Zhiqun Zhu
form, consolidate and project such an identity? Will it be accepted by the international community? In this regard, some modified version of social constructivism could help us understand the changes and continuities in Chinese foreign policy.16 Eventually, perhaps some fusion of Western and Chinese philosophies may emerge as a distinct Chinese theory of international relations. China’s domestic transformations and its evolving foreign policy are already shaping the global landscape of the 21st century. For this reason alone, extra efforts are needed to study China’s foreign policy — its rationale, implementation, contradictions, major challenges, and significant impact on the world.
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1According to the White Paper “China’s Peaceful Development 2011,” China’s core interests include: (1) state sovereignty; (2) national security; (3) territorial integrity; (4) national reunification; (5) China’s political system established by the Constitution and overall social stability; (6) basic safeguards for ensuring sustainable economic and social development.
2The term “Thucydides’ Trap” was popularized by Harvard Professor Graham Allison in his book Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017). However, international relations scholars especially those working on the power transition theory have presented the same concept long ago. For an analysis of how the power transition theory can be applied to US–China relations, see for example, Zhu (2006) and Chan (2007), For the original power transition theory, see Organski (1968).
3Tensions on the Korean Peninsula were lowered to some extent as a result of inter-Korean reconciliation and the Trump–Kim summit in Singapore in 2018, however, the future of the Korean Peninsula remains uncertain.
4For a brief overview of the “1992 Consensus” and why Taiwan should accept it in order to improve cross-Strait relations, see Hickey and Huang (2018).
5During Prime Minister Abe’s visit in October 2018, China and Japan vowed to raise the relationship to a new level. Japan pledged to actively participate in the BRI, especially in developing infrastructure in third countries. This is encouraging, but due to historical and structural conflicts, Japan–China relations remain delicate.
6“How Much Trade Transits the South China Sea?” China Power Project, CSIS, Washington, DC, undated report. https://chinapower.csis.org/much-trade-transits-south-china-sea/. Accessed on November 15, 2018.
7First agreed upon between India and China in 1954 to handle Sino-Indian relations, these five principles have guided Chinese foreign policy since. The Five Principles are: mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual nonaggression, mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and cooperation for mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.
8For a discussion of “Indo-Pacific,” see Zhu (2017). The article is also included in this book.
9Pence’s speech transcript can be found on the White House website here at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-vice-president-pence-administrations-policy-toward-china/.
10“AIT Dedicates