ABSTRACT
The decision-making process which guides the development and paths of Chinese foreign policy has been difficult to observe. Examining the agencies and persons responsible for foreign policy development often provides only a partial explanation or insight into Beijing’s current or future policies, since much of the foreign policy decision-making process, such as decisions made about domestic politics, is still very opaque, especially to those observing from outside. The current perception of China’s international relations being decided by a very centralised and cloistered elite in Beijing is no longer as valid as it used to be, as the number of actors who participate in the formation of the country’s foreign policy has grown within the Chinese government as well as increasingly outside it. This chapter will examine the principle government figures and agencies responsible for crafting Chinese foreign policy today, beginning with the upper tier of the Chinese government and working towards lower-level government actors and others with much looser ties to the CCP. At the same time, in trying to understand the role of domestic politics in the evolution
of China’s international relations, it is also necessary to look at what theories and ideas are being used in China and elsewhere, including traditional theories of international relations as well as the growing role of nationalism. Crafting an effective modern foreign policy while maintaining domestic affairs is a challenge for any state as the line between the two continues to blur in today’s globalised world. However, in the case of China there is also the great challenge of developing foreign policy for a rising great power, while at the same time making sure that the Chinese domestic reforms begun thirty years ago are also maintained. In answering the question of who (and what) makes today’s Chinese foreign policy, there are a number of different directions in which to look.
