ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the preliminary analysis of China’s perspectives on and approaches to multilateralism and how Beijing views multilateralism and international institutions and uses them to advance its national interests: prosperity and security in an international system still dominated by the United States, as well as socio-economic stability and the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party. China’s rise raises important questions about the liberal international order but there is no consensus on either the nature or the extent of challenges that China will pose to the existing order, on the one hand, and the latter’s resilience during a period of power transition, on the other. China returned to the international community when it was reinstated in the United Nations Security Council as a permanent member in 1971. The theory of institutional balancing seeks to explain how emerging powers can resort to a broad range of strategies to protect and advance their interests with manageable costs.
