ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter explains that this work provides a systematic and comprehensive study of China’s foreign policy through an analytical framework, which is constructed by incorporating the ideas of Waltz’s three-level international relations theory, realism and constructivism. Following this analytical framework, the chapter pinpoints a major theme that runs throughout this work, that is, China’s foreign policy since 1949 has revealed a persistent pattern of continuity and change. Under this general pattern of continuity and change, Chinese foreign policy since 1949 has been evolving through three major phases, namely, the first phase of the Mao era (1949–1979), the second phase of Deng’s influence (1979–2009) and the third phase that is primarily under Xi’s leadership (2009–present). As Chinese foreign policy has become highly complex today, the study of Chinese foreign policy accordingly becomes much more comprehensive and complex than before, covering a wide range of foreign policy issues. This study focuses on some most important topics of Chinese foreign policy, including Chinese foreign policy making, the evolution of Chinese foreign policy since 1949, Chinese national security strategy, Chinese international security policy, Chinese foreign economic policy and Chinese multilateralism policy.
