ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the structure and process of foreign policy making in China, not Chinese foreign policy per se or the politics of foreign policy making. The adoption of a new foreign policy posture, labeled an "independent foreign policy," has been one of the most important of the changes. Nationalism has always been a powerful and basic force shaping Chinese foreign policy, but, if possible, it has become even more so as the influence of old ideological concepts has declined. Chinese nationalism and Peking's great stress on sovereignty clearly create some problems between China and certain of its neighbors which have conflicting views on issues that they, too, believe involve their sovereignty. The Chinese began moving toward an "independent foreign policy" during 1981-1982, a period when US-China relations were severely strained because of the issue of US arms sales to Taiwan.
