Guiding Question: What were the main goals of Chinese foreign policy under Mao Zedong? How have they changed? What are they today?
Since the People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949, their foreign policy goals have shifted from internal to external. Chairman Mao Zedong was the first new Chinese leader to establish foreign policies, and he had 3 major principles, which he put forth in the People’s Political Consultative Conference. The first was called |
“Starting anew”, and meant basically the same as the second, “putting the house in order before inviting guests.” These two policies renounced all former treaties with other governments, attempted to remove imperialist influence from China, and established new relationships with other countries with the basis of “mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and equality and mutual benefit.” (1). The third policy, “leaning to one side”, established that the Chinese people would stay on the side of socialism during the Cold War. The tensions between the United States and USSR were beginning to escalate, and since the People’s Republic of China was a communist nation who opposed all imperialism, Mao decided that they would support socialism. This established slightly cooler relations between the United States and China, since the government did not just say that they would oppose foreign influence, they specifically disliked the US. Mao purposefully paints siding with socialism as a necessity, rather than a choice, putting the US and China on opposite sides (2). These policies mostly focus on other countries’ influence within China, as opposed to China’s influence abroad. Since they were a very new country, they needed to focus on establishing domestic stability before they could expand their sphere of influence, but with changes in leadership, this would change in the very near future.
Mao Zedong died in 1976, but even before his death, US and Chinese officials met in Beijing, and wrote the Shanghai Communique. President Nixon was invited by Chairman Mao to Beijing, and they established the document that would shape future US/China relations. Something that was really interesting was that the document stated “China will never be a superpower and it opposes hegemony and power politics of any kind”. Hegemony used to be a code word for Soviet expansion, but now more means American influence abroad (3). This shows the Chinese perspective on foreign policy at the time, and comparing it to now, there have been
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major changes. Since Deng Xiaoping’s leadership in the 1980s, China claims topursue an “independent foreign policy of peace” (4). Mao Zedong died in 1976, but even before his death, US and Chinese officials met in Beijing, and wrote the Shanghai Communique. President Nixon was invited by Chairman Mao to Beijing, and they established the document that would shape future US/China relations. Something that was really interesting was that the document stated “China will never be a superpower and it opposes hegemony and power politics of any kind”. Hegemony used to be a code word for Soviet expansion, but now more means American influence abroad (3). This shows the Chinese perspective on foreign policy at the time, and comparing it to now, there have been major changes. Since Deng Xiaoping’s leadership in the 1980s, China claims to pursue an “independent foreign policy of peace” (4). In modern day China under the leadership of Xi Jinping, China’s major policy goals have a lot more to do with their influence abroad than before. Their first major goal is to
have good relationships with their neighbors. Due to China’s long history of foreign intervention, they do not want other threatening countries to use any internal friction. Secondly, they want to segregate Taiwan from other countries, so that they do not receive international support (5). Thirdly, China has a lot of environmental problems, so they need natural resources from other countries, which has led to them forging diplomatic relationships with potentially disagreeable countries. (6). In conclusion, the main change over time in Chinese foreign policy has changed from focusing on building inward stability, to reaching and expanding into the international community and becoming a global superpower.
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Vocabulary/ 生詞:
Mao Zedong: The leader of the People's Republic of China from its creation in 1949 to his death in 1976.
“Starting anew”: This referred to China completely starting over in terms of foreign affairs.
“Putting the house in order before inviting guests”: This was the term used to describe China cutting all former diplomatic ties, and connects to "starting anew".
“Leaning to one side”: China leaned towards the side of socialism and the USSR, meaning that relationships with the United States would be less friendly.