China and Socialist Countries: Role Change and Role Continuity

Nele Noesselt ()

Working Papers from eSocialSciences

Abstract: This paper analyses changes in China’s relations with socialist countries. It uses Chinese academic publications to add an inside-out perspective to the interpretation of Chinese foreign policy and outlines key socio-cognitive determinants of China’s foreign behaviour. The paper starts with an overview of role theory, integrating Chinese scholars’ writings on images of ego and alter to identify the main patterns and frames of China’s selfproclaimed national role(s). It argues that China’s actor identity comprises various, partly contradictory role conceptions. National roles derived from China’s internal structures and its historical past lead to continuity in Chinese foreign policy, while the ‘new’ roles resultant from China’s rise to global powerhood require it to adapt its foreign policy principles. The paper then examines four bilateral relationships – between China and Cuba, North Korea, the Soviet Union/Russia, and Vietnam – and discusses their development over time in light of China’s reformulation of its ‘socialist’ role conception.

Keywords: China; Chinese foreign policy; national identity; role theory; socialism; foreign policy principles; socialist; case studies; 'Chinese’ model of socialism; Sino–Soviet Relations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-08
Note: Institutional Papers
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.esocialsciences.org/Articles/show_Artic ... onalPapers&aid=11175

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:11175

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from eSocialSciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Padma Prakash ().