ABSTRACT
In China, many factors interact to influence the country’s foreign policy. Among the major determinants in the conceptual framework of the Chinese leadership are tradition, ideology, and their perception of China’s capabilities. The traditional Chinese worldview saw the country as the Middle Kingdom: the center of the world and the hub of civilization. China has become a zealous defender of the concept of sovereign rights, the latter being an important underpinning of the multistate system. Marxist–Leninist thought categories remain though in general communist ideology has become less a guide for policy formulation than an instrument for after-the-fact rationalization of actions taken on the basis of other criteria. Military capabilities are rapidly improving, as are the incidence and sophistication of cyber hacking into other countries’ security establishments. In emphasizing peaceful coexistence with Third World countries, China had muted rather than abandoned its revolutionary message.
