China's rapid development has attracted worldwide attention in recent years. The implications of China's rise, from its expanding influence and military muscle to its growing demand for energy supplies, are heatedly debated in the international community. Jintao's officially proposed concept of 'peaceful development' has become the underlying principle behind Chinese foreign policy under the fourth generation leadership. However, is 'peaceful development' possible in the broad context of domestic and international development? This comprehensive and timely study examines the conditions and challenges of China's 'peaceful rise' and addresses the central question of whether it is possible for China to 'rise peacefully' in the 21st century, bearing in mind the implications for China and the rest of the world. It is ideal as a supplementary course book in foreign policy, Asian politics and development.

Adopting a constructivist approach, this book argues that China's prospects for achieving 'great power' status peacefully depend more on perceptions of the country's development than on concrete measures of power or economic benefits. Incorporating historical perceptions, survey data and general analysis, the authors explore Chinese foreign policies in international organisations, international trade, security relations and as a model for global governance, as well as the reactions to those policies within the context of China's relations with Asian neighbours (India, Japan and the states of South-east Asia), existing international powers (the European Union, Russia and the United States), and emergent trading partners (Africa).

Despite China's desire to make its rapid ascendance in the 21st century as non provocative as possible, the key to ensure China's peaceful rise lies in two-way integration and engagement. A closely integrated China with the rest of the world and China's acceptance of existing international norms and rules may compel China to behave in a more predictable and responsive way. This co-edited book examines China's rising military capacity and the complex feelings its neighbors, such as Taiwan, South Korea and India, have toward the increasingly powerful China. The focus of this book is on the efforts made by China to brand her non-aggressive image through promoting public diplomacy and expanding regional free trade and cooperation in Asia and Latin America. It uses the cross-Taiwan-strait relations as a testing ground for the prospect of peace between the two former adversaries. China's Quiet Rise will help readers understand why integration, instead of isolation and containment, may be the most effective way to facilitate China's peaceful rise.

This book is a study of the making of foreign policy of China, a rising power in the 21st century. It examines three sets of driving forces behind China’s foreign policy making. One is historical sources, including the selective memories and reconstruction of the glorious empire with an ethnocentric world outlook and the century of humiliation at the hands of foreign imperialist powers. The second set is domestic institutions and players, particularly the proliferation of new party and government institutions and players, such as the national security commission, foreign policy think tanks, media and local governments. The third set is Chinese perception of power relations, particularly their position in the international system and their position relations with major powers. This book consists of articles from the Journal of Contemporary China.

Zheng Bijian has been one of the most influential thinkers and policy formulators in China during its reform period. In the early 1990s he worked with Deng Xiaoping collating and publishing Deng’s speeches and as vice president of the Party School gave top priority to ensuring that members of the Party were thoroughly familiar with Deng’s views, theories and reform agenda. In this important book, which is already available in Chinese, Zheng Bijian sets out his views and relates how his views were formed and developed over the long reform period, including the full text of his important speeches and papers, together with appropriate introductory material. Particular key themes which Zheng Bijian’s thought has contributed to China’s development are that China should embrace globalization and strengthen its relationship with the rest of the world, and that China’s development should be peaceful. "Zheng Bijian’s ideas, actions and vision helped China in its astonishing thirty years growth. Zheng Bijian made a great contribution to envisioning the new role of China in a globalized world. This book is the intellectual story of a great witness of our times." - Romano Prodi, former President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Italy

China's potential threat to the existing global order is not derived from her rapid economic growth and military expansion, but from China's potential domestic chaos. The workable solution of China's democratization under the current Chinese political system is not to dissolve the Communist Party of China, but to begin with freedom of media, religion, and citizen participation.

This book looks ahead to consider the most likely results of the encounter between China and the international system. Environmental, cultural and perceptual matters are considered as well as more traditional economic and military issues. Underpinning the book is the question will the 21st century be 'China's Century', for China and the world?