The Domestic Sources of China's Foreign Policy: Regimes, Leadership, Priorities and Process(China Policy Series)

As China’s political and economic influence in the world is rapidly increasing, it is essential to understand how China’s domestic politics affects its foreign political and economic policy. This book offers an accessible, informative and up-to-date systemic analysis of the foreign policy of China. Where mainstream literature on international relations usually suggests that China’s foreign policy is primarily determined by external factors, such as the international system and external settings, this book demonstrates instead that domestic factors profoundly shape China’s foreign policy from the late Mao’s era to the reform era. It demonstrates how China’s foreign policy is driven by the preservation of political and economic regimes; the political survival of the top leader; the top leader’s vision for, and skills in, managing external affairs; the leader’s policy priorities; dramatic events and the process of policymaking. It presents its argument in-depth analysis of major cases of Chinese foreign policy – for example, China’s difficult relations with Southeast Asia; China’s 15-year accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO); China’s oil diplomacy in the recent decade, and the diversified process of foreign policy making in the twenty-first century.

Table of Contents:
Part 1: Analytical Framework 1. Introduction: Bringing Back Domestic Politics in Studies of Foreign Policy 2. Internal Sources of External Policy: An Analytical Framework Part 2: Cases of China’s Foreign Policy 3. Domestic Regimes and Leaders’ Vision: Relations with Southeast Asia 4. Leadership Succession, Priority, Debates, and Shocks: WTO Accession 5. Managing Domestic-External Interaction: China-U.S. WTO Agreement 6. Securing Strategic Resources for Domestic Economy: Oil Diplomacy 7. Institutions and Players: Diversified Policy Making Process Part 3: Conclusion 8. Understanding a Rising China

About the Author :
Hongyi Lai is a lecturer at School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Nottingham, UK.He is author of Reform and the Non-State Economy in China: The Political Economy of Liberalization Strategies; the editor of Asian Energy Security: The Maritime Dimension; and co-editor of Harmony and Development: ASEAN-China Relations and China into the Hu-Wen Era: Policy Initiatives and Challenges.

Review :
"Linkage politics have long been an intricate question in explaining China's external behavior. In this book, Lai brings us to a new perspective on connecting Chinese leaders' vision, succession politics and domestic political economy with China's foreign policy. This is a must-read for all interested in the rise of a new titan in world politics" - Professor Jae Ho CHUNG, Director: Institute for China Studies, Seoul National University