Introduction: Theoretical Understanding of China’s Selective Identities

Abstract

From the perspective of this work, the key question of how far China, as a rising power, is different from the West is one of the most critical issues in the analysis. The other fundamental questions discussed here are: How does China place the United States within the format of selective identities, and what are its primary reasons for grouping political entities with different types of identity, for what reasons, and how was this achieved? And finally, how does China build its position within the power transition theory and selected identity nexus? The chapter discusses the essential parts of the presenting model: equality as the precondition of building different, chosen identities by China in international politics, the problem of identity and its relations to different types of political actors, and finally the issue of influence, which is understood as the part of comprehensive national power that will guarantee the relatively peaceful rise of China.