Introduction

The "three-world" theory is China's new concept of world politics after the Sino-American rapprochement. A study of China's relations with the three worlds since the rapprochement is a significant challenge. A general yet brief treatment of China's foreign relations since 1949 with emphasis on the rapprochement and enables the reader to see the continuity and change in Peking's policy. The foreign policy of the People's Republic of China can be defined to have short-, medium-, and long-range objectives. On numerous occasions in the past, the Peking leaders have repeatedly stated that China is a socialist as well as a developing Third World country. Some specialists have observed that China does possess relatively rich resources and could become an industrial giant. If China continues to compete with the Soviet Union and the United States in the international arena without a technological and industrial revolution, it will undoubtedly lag far behind the two superpowers.