OPINION> Commentary
Peaceful development core of foreign policy
By Shi Yinhong (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-25 07:45

China has undergone tremendous social, economic and political changes since late leader Deng Xiaoping launched the reform and opening up drive 30 years ago. One of the great results from such changes is the country's new foreign affairs strategy with full Chinese characteristics, especially its ideological foundation and basic principles.

China's top leaders in the post-Deng Xiaoping era have further enriched the ideology concerning world politics and the nation's foreign policies. Traditionally their ideology in this regard comprised three major elements: The vision and fundamental idea of international relations contained in Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought; Chinese patriotism, which is also called Chinese contemporary radical nationalism; and realistic thinking in international relations and foreign policies, or the so-called realpolitik, which is by no means unique to the Chinese.

Call it "neo-internationalism" if you will, but the new element has been injected into the ideological system of China's top leaders since the early years of reform and opening. Its main characteristic lies in certain relatively fast-growing beliefs - as in multilateral cooperation, international systems and cross-national apolitical exchanges aimed at peace and development.

Ideas such as the "new outlook of security" and "philosophy of world harmony", to a considerable extent, can be seen as the manifestation of this "neo-internationalism". By the same token, the overall "intensity" of modern Chinese nationalism that our top leaders embrace has been dropping compared with the Mao Zedong era, though it is still absolutely necessary in matters concerning the nation's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Their realist thinking has also been enriched with some new elements that are very beneficial to the world as well as to China: Their concept of "national interest" has become a hybrid with certain "international community-esque" traits. Or shall I say a considerable part of China's national interest is now believed to be fused with or mutually complementary to the common interests of the international community.

The fundamental principle of China's strategic thinking in foreign affairs has also changed since the start of reform and opening as compared with the Mao era. It can be summarized in just two words - peaceful development.

The strategic benefit of peaceful development is apparent. It is overwhelmingly dependent on peaceful and non-military sources of power and projection of influence. It is by nature non-violent and non-invasive, gradual and accumulative, far-reaching and pervasive, all-win and mutually beneficial, and, relatively speaking, least likely to evoke strong resistance while its result is most acceptable. That makes it effective and worthwhile at the same time.

Besides, while most of the basic nature of international politics is changing, peaceful development enjoys a rather solid foundation, because war as an effective means to serve national interest has been losing value. While the daily priority in international relations has been shifting from territorial and military security to economic development and soft power, a country's economic, cultural, diplomatic and moral influence has been gaining importance over military power; and the interdependence between national economies in today's world has been gaining depth as well as persuasion. Amid such changes, peaceful development suits the basic trend of world politics and has most of the fundamentals that guarantee success.

Of course, world politics has not lost all the basic characteristics of the past. Power politics remains a major dimension of world politics, and so do the core-periphery relationship in the political-economic sense of the term and the profound inherent contradictions of the global capitalist system. Territorial and military security is still considered very significant, while advanced military forces and a strong will to defend oneself in the face of security threats such as superior military power are absolutely needed.

And, faced with globalization, developed major powers and cross-national capital, developing nations, in particular, still find themselves ridden with vulnerabilities. That is why the Chinese government and people have not forgotten or taken lightly this reality since the reform and opening up began. And we understand it should never be handled in a crude and unsophisticated manner.

The essence of reform and opening up, or the prime experience from it, is perhaps advancing with the times, which can also be described as adapting oneself to the changing times and the changing world through creative adjustment.

Creative adaptation is the most important of all strategic capabilities for both internal and external affairs. For today's China, a top priority is to discover and identify the critical bottlenecks that have accompanied or intertwined with great achievements it has made. They affect the inner balance of the economy, social justice and protection of the environment. There are also the changes in, or changing trend of, world politics, economy and culture, which are characterized more prominently than anything else by the current financial crisis in the US and Europe and the recession in the US, Europe and Japan.

China must now keep in mind more than ever the big picture of world politics and the dynamics of its trend; keep in mind the importance of adapting to such dynamics through creative adjustment; and maintain strategic capabilities such as the courage to explore and experiment, and readiness for critical observation and adjustment.

China is making great efforts to change its economic development pattern according to the theory of Scientific Outlook on Development in order to ensure that the country's development is truly healthy and sustainable. And this will remain the most important task of the nation in the years to come.

As for its foreign strategy, China needs to seriously think about and study the following major new issues: the basic trend and changes of the contemporary world; the changing top-level agenda of world politics; The changes in the distribution in power around the world and the challenges and opportunities they bring to China against the backdrop of a global financial crisis and economic downturn; China's vulnerability in multiple aspects of world politics and economy; and the creation and optimization of its foreign economic strategy and "political culture" strategy.

The author is a professor at the Institute of International Relations of Renmin University

(China Daily 12/25/2008 page8)