ABSTRACT
Scholars a n d p o l i c y analysts seem almost obsessed w i t h China ' s c o n t i n u i n g rise t o w a r d the status o f a great power . Debates rage about whe the r there is a " C h i n a threat" to East As i a or the U n i t e d States, h o w to measure China ' s present m i l i t a r y a n d economic power , a n d w h i c h t rends best p ro j ect China ' s g r o w t h i n t o the next century. Less a t t en t ion has been g i v e n to h o w Chinese gove rnmen t analysts v i e w thei r o w n secur i ty env i ronmen t . Because they inf luence the t h i n k i n g of g o v e r n m e n t decis ion-makers and are p r i v y to the i r thoughts , an analysis of the i r v i e w s o n secur i ty is v a l u able. B y p r o v i d i n g a better u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f b o t h China ' s baseline re a l p o l i t i k v i e w of in t e rna t iona l po l i t i cs a n d t w o s ignif icant divergences f r o m that baseline-Beijing's a t t i tudes t o w a r d Japan a n d Ta iwan-such a s t u d y can he lp con t r ibu te to a more p r u d e n t A m e r i c a n East As i a strategy. 1
C h i n a m a y w e l l be the h i g h chu rch of r ea lpo l i t i k i n the pos t -Co ld War w o r l d . Its analysts cer ta in ly t h i n k more l i ke t r a d i t i o n a l balance-of-power theorists t h a n d o mos t con tempora ry Western leaders and p o l i c y ana lys ts . 2 For example , a l t h o u g h Ch ina has no t ac t ive ly opposed m u l t i l a t e r a l h u m a n i t a r i a n efforts, the rat ionales for in t e rna t iona l miss ions i n Bosnia, Somalia , a n d H a i t i are a l ien to the t h i n k i n g o f mos t Chinese analysts. They are also m u c h less l i k e l y t h a n the i r Western counterpar ts to emphasize po l i t i c a l , c u l t u r a l , or ideo log ica l differences w i t h fo re ign countr ies . The U n i t e d States considers the "enlargement o f areas o f democracy" a core e l ement o f its g r a n d strategy, b u t C h i n a has made a lmost n o effort, w i t h the possible except ion o f its relat ions w i t h N o r t h Korea , to expor t i ts ideas about " m a r k e t socia l i sm."
