ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how Chinese scholars comprehend international structure and debate on it. It aims to understand how they evaluate the international environment and offers an insight into how Chinese scholars view many international issues. International structure is a fundamental issue in international politics. Chinese scholars’ understanding of the international structure in this period features the recognition of the trend of multipolarization emerging from the background of the bipolar structure. International structure has experienced a complex transformation. There exist diverse opinions among Chinese scholars on international structure. Scholars hold different views on how and why international structure went through a complicated evolution process from 1985 to 2015. One of the most obvious phenomena in Chinese scholars’ discussions on the international structure is the continuous emphasis on the multipolar trend. The different views of Chinese IR scholars on international structure are to some extent influenced by their theoretical background.
