Chinese Strategic Thought toward Asia

Abstract

This book traces the development of Chinese thinking over four periods from the 1980s on and covers strategies toward: Russia and Central Asia, Japan, the Korean peninsula, Southeast and South Asia, and regionalism. It compares strategic thinking, arguing that the level was lowest under Jiang Zemin and highest under Hu Jintao. While pinpointing many mistaken assumptions, it credits China with overall successes and concludes that China stands at a crossroads. Deng Xiaoping’s legacy about patiently biding its time may be replaced by growing assertiveness, which was difficult to suppress earlier and now is emboldened by China’s rapid rise. “As the final volume in the publisher’s five-part series ‘Strategic Thought in Northeast Asia,’ the work opens with an insightful summary essay that is buttressed by a section on the chronological evolution of Chinese strategic thinking and then followed by an analysis on the geographic applications of the policies. . .The work is carefully documented and accessibly written for academic audiences. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.”--Choice "Drawing on three decades of research and unique Chinese publications, Gilbert Rozman probes into the inner discourse and debates among China's Asia specialists and strategic thinkers--bringing to light the complex thinking that lie behind Beijing's sophisticated regional policies. The United States and all of China's neighbors need to understand these calculations. This detailed volume is required reading for all Asia hands."--David Shambaugh, George Washington University & The Brookings Institution