„From the Charm to the Offensive". Hat China eine neue Außenpolitik?

Abstract

As expressed by a plethora of news headlines and articles in academic journals over the last two or three years, a new consensus on Chinese foreign policy seems to have emerged: According to this view, China is said to have reneged upon its previous "smile diplomacy" or "charm offensive" and to have become more "assertive", "aggressive", "nationalist", "triumphalist" or "belligerent". This judgment is based e.g. on China's recent behaviour in territorial conflicts with its neighbours, its military modernization programme or its often rude, condescending treatment of foreign dignitaries by Chinese diplomats. This article rejects the notion of a "new" and "more assertive" Chinese foreign policy, as displayed in Chinese rhetoric and diplomacy, since 2009. It contends that most of the literature fails to differentiate between four dimensions of Chinese foreign policy ('imperial' foreign policy, the ongoing forces of interdependence, unconventional foreign relations 'in the shadow of the empire', 'guerilla' foreign relations). Thus, Chinese foreign relations are far more decentralized and contradictory than the authoritarian character of its political system implies. Therefore, its foreign policy is "new" in a sense, but it is still too early to call it "assertive".