CHINESE FOREIGN POLICY UNDER XI JINPING: CONTINUITY AND INNOVATION

Abstract

The article is devoted to the modern approaches of the PRC to international problems and the main changes in Chinese diplomacy after Xi Jinping’s coming to power in 2012. The diplomacy of Xi Jinping is characterized by a gradual departure from Deng Xiaoping’s foreign policy concept. The article reviews innovation, strategic ideas and new diplomatic initiatives of the Chinese leadership, as well as the challenges faced by China as one of the leading global players. From the author’s point of view, foreign evaluations of China’s foreign policy remain in the line with official Chinese concepts that tend to exaggerate the swiftness and revolutionary nature of changes in the diplomatic course of Xi Jinping. In reality, these changes occur more smoothly. In Beijing’s foreign policy there is a complex picture of the intertwining of various trends. External observers often take Chinese rhetoric for evidence of the allegedly emerging new quality of diplomacy. According to the author, in the 1970s. the true motives of Deng Xiaoping in the course of adopting a reserved and cautious foreign policy doctrine for China were not limited to saving Beijing’s limited resources necessary for internal development. He was moved by the fear of losing on the world chessboard to more experienced powers, which would mean an internal political discredit of the Communist Party and could undermine its power. Even today, China’s deep insecurity in its own strength continues to constrain its transition to a more ambitious foreign policy. Although China’s dependence on external conditions is obvious, internal political instability can not be compensated by any diplomatic successes and the most favorable external environment. The position of China as the world’s second economy is not automatically transformed into a global influence. Most of the changes that today are associated with the so-called fifth generation of Chinese leaders, in reality were initiated by their predecessors. Imaginary novelty is the continuation of China’s gradual adaptation to socio-economic changes at the national and global levels. The article concludes with an analysis of the prospects for changing China’s role in the world.