Chinese Politics And Foreign Policy Under Xi Jinping

This book focuses on China’s future under Xi Jinping’s authoritarian leadership by examining various facets of the political, economic, social and foreign policy trajectories of contemporary China. It assesses Xi Jinping’s power dynamic as the ‘core’ leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and analyses the impact of Xi’s signature domestic policies which demonstrate his political authority within the domestic sphere. Moreover, the book presents Xi’s pro-active, assertive and action-oriented outlook as a foundation for China’s diplomacy in the ‘new era’. Bringing together an international set of experts in the field who explore critical facets of China under Xi Jinping that deeply influence the regional as well as the global order, the book investigates the impact of Chinese initiatives such as the grand Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). Importantly, the book illustrates US-China relations and outlines how this relationship will intensify in the post-COVID-19 era, which is poised to be one of the biggest challenges and turning points of the ‘Asian Century’. Offering a timely insight into China’s future and the trajectory of Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of China Studies, Asian and International Politics and International Relations.

There has been a discernable calibration of Chinese foreign policy since the ascension of Xi Jinping to the top leadership positions in China. The operative term here is adjustment rather than renovation because there has not been a fundamental transformation of Chinese foreign policy or "setting up of a new kitchen" in foreign affairs. Several continuities in Chinese diplomacy are still evident. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has not wavered from its overarching strategy of rising through peaceful development. The PRC is still an active participant and leader in, or shaper of, global and regional regimes even as it continues to push for reforms of the extant order, towards an arrangement which it thinks will be less unjust and more equitable. It seeks to better "link up with the international track", perhaps even more so under Xi’s stewardship. Yet amidst these continuities, it is clear that there have been some profound shifts in China’s foreign policy. From the enunciation of strategic slogans such as the "Asian security concept" and "major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics"; the creation of the China-led and initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; the pursuit of Xi’s signature foreign policy initiative, the One Belt One Road; to a purportedly more assertive and resolute defense of China’s maritime territorial interests in East Asia—examples of these foreign policy calibrations (both patent and subtle) abound. In short, this has not been a complete metamorphosis but there are real changes, with important repercussions for China and the international system. The burning questions then are What, Where, How and Why: What are these key foreign policy adjustments? Where and how have these occurred in Chinese diplomacy? And what are the reasons or drivers that inform these changes? This book seeks to capture these changes. Featuring contributions from academics, think-tank intellectuals and policy practitioners, all engaged in the compelling business of China-watching, the book aims to shed more light on the calibrations that have animated China’s diplomacy under Xi, a leader who by most accounts is considered the most powerful Chinese numero uno since Deng Xiaoping.

With new assertiveness and prominence, China under President Xi Jinping is rightly considered an emerging and aggressive superpower backed by growing economic and impressive military strength. In this meticulous and balanced assessment, Robert G. Sutter traces China’s actions under Xi Jinping, including the many challenges they post to the international status quo. He provides a comprehensive analysis of newly prominent Chinese unconventional levers of power and influence in foreign affairs that were previously disguised, hidden, denied or otherwise neglected or unappreciated by specialists. Sutter considers the domestic issues that preoccupy Beijing and the global factors economic and political factors that complicate and constrain as well as enhance China’s advance to international prominence.

Since becoming president of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping has emerged as China's most powerful and popular leader since Deng Xiaoping. The breathtaking economic expansion and military modernization that Xi inherited has convinced him that China can transform into a twenty-first-century superpower. In this collection, leading scholars from the United States, Asia, and Europe examine both the prospects for China's continuing rise and the emergent and unintended consequences posed by China's internal instability and international assertiveness. Contributors examine domestic challenges surrounding slowed economic growth, Xi's anti-corruption campaign, and government efforts to maintain social stability. Essays on foreign policy range from the impact of nationalist pressures on international relations to China's heavy-handed actions in the South China Sea that challenge regional stability and US-China cooperation. The result is a comprehensive analysis of current policy trends in Xi's China and the implications of these developments for his nation, the United States, and Asia-Pacific.

China watching is anything but being boring because Chinese politics is filled with dramas almost on a daily basis. In the past three years since Xi Jinping became general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese political drama has unfolded with a lot of twists and turns.Based on a series of articles published on the Diplomat, this volume offers snapshots of different episodes of the political drama from December 2014 to January 2016, focusing mostly on the main character of the show — President Xi Jinping and serving as an appetizer for those who are hungry about Chinese elite politics.

In light of China's deepening economic slowdown, "China's foreign policy may well be driven increasingly by the risk of domestic political instability," write Robert D. Blackwill, Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and Kurt M. Campbell, the Asia Group's chairman and chief executive officer, in a new Council Special Report. "Economic growth and nationalism have for decades been the two founts of legitimacy for the Communist Party, and as the former wanes, [Chinese leader Xi Jinping] will likely rely increasingly on the latter." Xi's "dominance of the decision-making process [has] made him a powerful but potentially exposed leader," the authors note. To protect his position, Xi will "most probably stimulate and intensify Chinese nationalism—long a pillar of the state's legitimacy—to compensate for the political harm of a slower economy, to distract the public, to halt rivals who might use nationalist criticisms against him, and to burnish his own image." The report—Xi Jinping on the Global Stage: Chinese Foreign Policy Under a Powerful but Exposed Leader—notes that China's economy, which had expanded at an annual rate of 10 percent for three decades, is entering a new era of considerably slower growth. To strengthen his position at home, Xi "will probably intensify his personality cult, crack down even harder on dissent, and grow bolder in using the anticorruption campaign against elites who oppose him." Internationally, Xi "may provoke disputes with neighbors, use increasingly strident rhetoric in defense of China's national interests, and take a tougher line in relations with the United States and its allies to shift public focus away from economic troubles." To deal with Xi's more assertive foreign and defense policies, the authors call for a new American grand strategy for Asia that "seeks to avoid a U.S.-China confrontation and maintain U.S. primacy in Asia." The authors, both former senior government officials with extensive experience in the region, recommend passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership—an Asia-centered trade deal with countries that represent approximately 40 percent of the global economy—lifting constraints on U.S. exports of oil to Asian allies, and maintaining a commitment to deploy at least 60 percent of the U.S. Navy and Air Force in the Asia Pacific. They identify the U.S. pivot or rebalance to Asia as "the indispensable ingredient in a successful U.S. policy to participate and project strength more consequentially in the region and to deal with Chinese power and influence under Xi Jinping."

“How will China develop under Xi Jinping's rule? Is Xi Jinping, and by extension the Chinese state, now acting from a position of strength or weakness? In other words, do his policies appear to be the actions of a strong leader of an increasingly powerful nation? Or, are they the actions of an insecure one, uncertain of how legitimate the state is in the eyes of the population over which it rules?” – Allen Carlson,Cornell University

This book examines the driving forces behind national-level politics, changes to the judiciary, social control, economic reform, environmental protection, urban development, the management of ethnic relations, as well as foreign and security policy orientation in China under Xi Jinping. It explains Xi's ambition, examines the limitations he has to confront, and maps the direction of reform he pursues. The book starts off by examining how the consultative Leninist nature of the political system continues to shape politics and policy in China under Xi, and what the China dream Xi advocates actually entails domestically and beyond China. It ends by highlighting the megatrends that will prevail in the decade when Xi is expected to stay in power. The book also includes contributions from five Central Party School professors whose views are taken seriously by the Chinese leadership.