Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Rise of China: Political Worldview and Chinese Exceptionalism
- 2 Chinese Political Worldview: IR with Chinese Characteristics
- 3 Who is China?
- 4 Chinese National Image and Global Leadership
- 5 The Belt and Road and the Path to Chinese Greatness
- 6 Perceiving China: Case Studies from Indonesia and Vietnam
- 7 Deciphering China: Views from Singapore
- 8 Conclusion: From Chinese Exceptionalism to Chinese Universality
- 9 Afterword: Covid-19 and the Limits of Chinese Exceptionalism
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - The Rise of China: Political Worldview and Chinese Exceptionalism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 May 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Rise of China: Political Worldview and Chinese Exceptionalism
- 2 Chinese Political Worldview: IR with Chinese Characteristics
- 3 Who is China?
- 4 Chinese National Image and Global Leadership
- 5 The Belt and Road and the Path to Chinese Greatness
- 6 Perceiving China: Case Studies from Indonesia and Vietnam
- 7 Deciphering China: Views from Singapore
- 8 Conclusion: From Chinese Exceptionalism to Chinese Universality
- 9 Afterword: Covid-19 and the Limits of Chinese Exceptionalism
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Abstract
This chapter introduces the concept of Chinese exceptionalism as a framework for studying China's political worldview and international relations. It argues that a discourse of Chinese exceptionalism has permeated Chinese scholarly circles as a mode of political inquiry into China's international relations and vision of global order. Consequently it argues that a framework of exceptionalism provides a more comprehensive explanation of China's international politics and foreign policy behavior. The chapter also discusses the research design of this study, which is based primarily on elite interviews and discourse analysis. It concludes with an outline of the remaining eight chapters of the book, and how they relate to the broader theme of Chinese exceptionalism.
Keywords: exceptionalism, political worldview, international relations, global order, foreign policy
The rise of China as a major player in international affairs over the past few decades has generated substantial debate among scholars and policy makers in the field of international relations. As evinced by the Covid-19 outbreak, what happens in China now has international repercussions. More than that, Beijing's economic footprint, growing military presence, and political influence have raised questions and concerns about its long term intentions, whether it will cooperate or challenge the existing global order, and consequently how countries should respond, react, and relate to the current Chinese government.
Following the November 2012 assumption of China's top office by Xi Jinping, China's international prominence has become even more conspicuous, with many suggesting that it is now moving away from the previous “strategy of lying low” (taoguang yanghui 韬光养晦) to take up a more active, even assertive, stance in international relations. Linked to this is Chinese leaders’ frequent emphasis over the last decade that China's rise would be peaceful, and that it would not become a hegemonic power. According to Barry Buzan, this rhetoric of a “peaceful rise” represents an “indigenous and original idea deeply embedded in China's reform and opening up, and effectively constituting the core concept for a grand strategy. While not without its ambiguities and contradictions, ‘peaceful rise’ represents a potentially workable program, and a distinctive way of marking China's return to great power standing in international society.”
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- China's Political Worldview and Chinese ExceptionalismInternational Order and Global Leadership, pp. 11 - 34Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2021