GFIR 424: China in World Affairs
Course Instructor: Paige Johnson
Phone: 984-3127 (call anytime)
E-mail: johnson_paige@hotmail.com
Office Hours: T, R1:15pm to 2:30pm and by appointment
About the Course
Is China a threat to the United States and the current world order that should be contained? Or is China a partner that should be engaged? These are some of the questions that this introductory course on China’s role in world affairs should prepare students to answer. The course hopes to move beyond this easy dichotomy, though, to consider China’s international relationships in all their complexity.
The course should arm students with an arsenal of perspectives on the determinants of Chinese policy: from history, ideology, the structures of Chinese domestic decision-making, the personalities of individual leaders, and China’s place in the international system of states. The course will also consider the sources of other nations’ China policies. Relationships with the US, Russia, Japan, and Southeast Asia will be a special focus.
The course should be theoretically rigorous enough for those planning graduate level studies on China or in International Relations. It should also be practical enough for those hoping only to gain a solid introduction to Chinese foreign policy.
Course Requirements
Students will be evaluated on the basis of a midterm (20% of final course grade), an analysis of media coverage of China (10%), an op-ed piece on China policy (10%), a negotiation simulation (20%), class participation (5%), and a final exam (35%).
The midterm examination will be held on October 17th. It will consist of an essay and several short answer questions.
Students will do a short paper (4-5 pages) on media coverage of China and the impact of that coverage on international relations. The media assignments are due October 10th.
Students will write a 3-4 page opinion piece (an “op-ed”) on an issue of contemporary interest in Chinese foreign policy. Op-eds are due November 2nd.
The negotiation simulation will be conducted on November 16 and 21. Students will work in country groups and prepare a paper in preparation for the simulation. After the simulation, students will write a short, follow-up paper individually on their participation in the exercise and lessons learned.
Although this class is a relatively large one, class participation is strongly encouraged. Exploring issues in class, in office hours, and/or by e-mail with the instructor all contribute to class participation.
The final exam will be held from 9:00am to 12:00pm on Thursday, December 14. It will cover the entire course. Students will answer three essay questions (students will have some choice of questions).
College of Arts & Sciences Deadlines
To add the course: September 12
To drop the course: October 10
Required Books
Deng, Yong and Fei-ling Wang, eds. In the Eyes of the Dragon: China Views the World. Lanham, MD:
Rowman and Littlefield, 1999.
Kim, Samuel S, ed. China and the World: Chinese Foreign Policy Faces the New Millennium. Boulder:
Westview, 1998.
Mann, James. About Face: A History of America’s Curious Relationship with China, From Nixon to
Clinton. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999.
Course Packet available at The Copy Shop, 5-B Elliewood Avenue (phone—295-8337). The packet is on reserve at Clemons Library. Additional readings may be passed out from time to time in class or via e-mail.
Other Resources: World Wide Web
General links to scholarly resources and news about China and International Relations:
AsiaGateway at http://www.asiagateway.com
Asia Society’s Asia Source Homepage at http://www.asiasource.org
Asian Studies World Wide Web Virtual Library (WWWVL) at the Australian National University at
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-AsianStudies.html
BBC Asia programming—listen to the China Service in Mandarin or to East Asia Today in English
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/asiapacific/index.shtml
China: A Country Study, U.S. Library of Congress at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cntoc.html
China Headline Links from ChinaOnline at
http://www.chinaonline.com/roundup/headlines.asp
China Links from the University of Michigan at
http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/Area.Programs/Asia/china/weblist.htm
China News Digest at http://www.cnd.org/CND-Global/CND-Global.new.html
Chinese Foreign Policy Net at http://www.stanford.edu/~fravel/ChinaFP/toc.htm
Chinese Military Power page at http://www.comw.org/cmp/
CNN/Time/Asiaweek AsiaNow at http://www.cnn.com/AsiaNow
Department of State on U.S.-China relations at
http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/ea/uschina/homepage.htm
East Asia Center Asialinks at http://www.virginia.edu/~eastasia/easia13.html
Embassy of China to the United States at http://www.china-embassy.org/
Embassy of the United States to China at http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/
Far Eastern Economic Review at http://www.feer.com
Foreign, Comparative, and International Resources from the Department of Political Science
at Louisiana State University at http://www.artsci.lsu.edu/poli/foreign.html
Human Rights Watch/Asia at http://www.hrw.org/about/divisions/asia.html
Inside China at http://www.insidechina.com/
International Affairs WWWVL at http://www.etown.edu/vl
Internet Guide for China Studies—Politics at http://sun.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/igcs/igpol.htm
Maps from the University of Texas at
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/china.html
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) on Japan-China relations at
http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/china/index.html
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (PRC) at http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/english/dhtml/
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (RoC) at http://www.mofa.gov.tw/emofa/eindex.html
Political Resources on the Net: China at http://www.politicalresources.net/china.htm
Political Science WWWVL at http://www.lib.uconn.edu/PoliSci
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) at http://www.scmp.com
Taiwan WWWVL at http://peacock.tnjc.edu.tw/taiwan-wwwvl.html
Tibet Government in Exile at http://www.tibet.com/
Periodicals and Scholarly Journals
As wonderful as the web is for research, periodicals and scholarly journals still form the backbone of our academic work. Some periodicals/journals helpful for the study of China and International Relations are listed below:
American Political Science Review
Asian Survey
Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs
China Information
China Quarterly
Current History
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Policy
International Security
International Organization
Journal of Contemporary China
Journal of Democracy
Pacific Affairs
Pacific Review
Problems of Communism
Survival
Washington Quarterly
World Politics
Electronic Communication
I have set up an electronic list for the course. Messages sent to the course list will be sent to all course participants. I will use the list from time to time to send out reminders about course deadlines and occasionally current news stories from East Asia that we might discuss in class. Students are strongly encouraged to use the list as well--to communicate about issues raised in class, reading assignments, or anything else that comes to mind. Send messages to gfir424-1@toolkit.virginia.edu for broadcast to the course list.
Course Schedule
What are some basic theories that help us to understand the nature of Chinese
foreign policy? Why do we use theory?
Reading: Kim, Chs. 1-3.
Why does history matter in a consideration of China’s foreign policy? What
specific historical experiences, trends, or phenomena can we see as relevant to
Chinese foreign policy today?
Reading: Mark Mancall. China at the Center: 300 Years of Foreign Policy. New
York: Free Press, 1984, pp. 13-39, 105-188. “Qianlong’s Rejection of Macartney’s
Demands: Two Edicts ” and “Japan’s Twenty-one Demands, 1915.” In Pei-Kai
Cheng and Michael Lestz with Jonathan D. Spence, eds. The Search for
Modern China: A Documentary Collection. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999, pp.
103-109, 167, 216-220.
How did the long Chinese revolution impact Chinese foreign policy? What
about the invasion of China by Japan and China’s role in World War II?
Readings: Mancall, pp. 189-209, 235-312.
Reading: Lenin. “Imperialism.” David McLellan, ed. Marxism: Essential Writings.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 153-163. Mao Tse-tung. “On New
Democracy.” Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, Volume II. Peking: Foreign
Languages Press, pp. 339-384. Mao Tse-tung. “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie
Fire.” Selected Works of Mao Tse-Tung, Volume I. Peking: Foreign Languages
Press, 1975, pp. 117-128.
Why did China choose a strategy of “leaning to one side” in the 1950s? Can
we see ideology and Cold War politics at work? What were the goals and
achievements of Chinese foreign policy during this period? How was China
viewed abroad?
Reading: Wang Gungwu. China and the World. London: Macmillan, 1977, pp.
27-66. “Treaty with the Soviet Union,” “The Chinese People Cannot Be Cowed
by the Atom Bomb,” and “U.S. Imperialism is a Paper Tiger.” Cheng, et. al., pp.
358-360. Selections on Sino-Soviet Relations in Franz Schurmann and Orville
Schell, eds. Communist China. New York: Vintage, 1967, pp. 231-266.
What was responsible for the Sino-Soviet split? How did the split manifest itself?
How and why (from both the Chinese and U.S. sides) did China-U.S. relations improve in the early 1970s?
Reading: Wang Gungwu, pp. 67-105. Selections on Sino-Soviet and Sino-U.S.
relations in Schurmann and Schell, pp. 267-289, 491-502, 581-596. Mann, pp. 13-
77. “Joint Communiqué Between the People’s Republic of China and the
United States of America” (The Shanghai Communiqué). February 28, 1972.
[ONLINE]. http://www.china-embassy.org/Cgi-Bin/Press.pl?151 [accessed June 13, 2000]
What determined China’s evolving relationship with the nations of the Third
World?
Reading: Kim, Ch. 7
Reading: Robert G. Sutter. Chinese Foreign Policy: Developments After Mao.
New York: Praeger, 1986, pp. 60-130. Deng Xiaoping. “Hold High the Banner of
Mao Zedong Thought and Adhere to the Principle of Seeking Truth from Facts”
and “The Present Situation and the Tasks Before Us.” Selected Works of Deng
Xiaoping. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1984, pp. 141-144, 224-258.
This session will examine China’s evolving relationship with the U.S. during a time
of intense national and international changes and consider the case of the
Chinese invasion of Vietnam in 1979. Why did the U.S. and China finally agree
to normalize relations effective January 1979? What were the complex causes
of the Chinese invasion of Vietnam?
Reading: Mann, pp. 78-114.
Oct 05 The Evolving Chinese Foreign Policy Decision-Making Process
How is foreign policy made in post-Mao China? Who makes decisions? Who
gets a say and on what policies? This session will also deal with U.S. China
relations during the 1980s. What was China’s “Independent Foreign Policy?”
Reading: Chih-chia Hsu. “Foreign Policy Decision-making Process in Deng’s
China: Three Patterns for Analysis.” Asian Perspective. Vol. 23, No. 2. 1999, pp.
197-223. Mann, pp. 115-174. Zhao Ziyang. Work Report Delivered to the Sixth
National People’s Congress. May 15, 1984. Published as “Independent Foreign Policy.” In China and the World (5). Beijing: Beijing Review Foreign Affairs, 1985, pp. 5-23.
This session will begin to explore tensions in the U.S.-China relationship that
became apparent in the wake of the suppression of dissent at Tiananmen
Square in 1989. What is the place of human rights in the foreign policies of the
U.S. and China? Can we see other factors at work in the deterioration of
relations?
Reading: Dragon, Ch. 5. Kim, Ch. 10. Mann, pp. 175-225.
China and the media assignment due.
Oct 17 Midterm
Oct 19 China’s Strategic Position and Perception of National Interest in the Post Cold-
War World
How do the 1990s look to Chinese foreign policy makers? What is China’s
national interest now? What can we learn from an examination of “China’s
Diplomacy?”
Reading: Dragon, Chs. 2 and 3. Kim, Ch. 8. Embassy of the People’s Republic of
China to the United States. “China’s Diplomacy Aims at Safeguarding National
Interests, Promoting World Peace.” Undated. [ONLINE]. http://www.china-embassy.org/relations/policy01.htm [accessed June 13, 2000]
Oct 24 Fall Reading Days—no class
What role do China and Russia play in each other’s foreign policy?
Reading: Kim, Ch. 5. Gilbert Rozman. “Shifting Triangular Relations Between
China, Russia, and the US.” China Online. April 27,2000. [ONLINE].
http://www.chinaonline.com [accessed June 13, 2000]
Op-eds due.
This session will explore the profitable and often prickly relationship between
China and Japan. What are the driving forces behind the relationship? What
pushes the two together and what drives them apart? We will explore the issue
of the apology demanded by China in Jiang’s November 1998 summit with
Japan as well as the resulting summit declarations and press announcements.
Reading: Kim, Ch. 6. “Japan-China Joint Declaration On Building a Partnership
of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development” and “Joint Press
Announcement on Strengthening Cooperation Between Japan and China
Toward the Twenty-first Century.” November 26, 1998. [ONLINE]. Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (Japan) http://www.mofa.go.jp [accessed June 13, 2000].
Handouts re: Apology.
From running dogs of imperialism to sources of capital for development to allies
in a low-key struggle with the United States over human rights, China’s
perceptions of Southeast Asia have changed dramatically since Mao’s time.
This session will explore how China views Southeast Asia and how a selection of
Southeast Asian nations view China. The session will focus on Indonesia,
Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
Reading: Dragon, pp. 183-193. Chapters on Indonesia, Singapore, and
Malaysia from Alastair Iain Johnston, ed. Engaging China: the Management of
an Emerging Power. New York: Routledge, 1999, pp. 87-131.
While the PRC considers the Taiwan question to be a domestic matter, it is clear
that the issue has far-reaching implications for regional and even global
relationships. How does China view Taiwan? How does Taiwan view China?
Where does the U.S. fit?
Reading: Dragon, Ch. 10. Johnston, pp. 57-86. Taiwan Affairs Office and the
Information Office of the State Council (People’s Republic of China). “White
Paper—The One China Principle and the Taiwan Issue.” February 21, 2000.
[ONLINE]. http://www.fas.org/news/china/taiwan00.htm [accessed June 13,
2000]. Chen Shui-bian. “Text: Taiwan President Chen’s Inaugural Address.” May
20, 2000. [ONLINE].
http://www.chinaonline.com/features/eyeontaiwan/currentnews/secure/C00051921.asp [accessed June 13, 2000]
Group papers due.
Nov 23 Thanksgiving Holiday
What determines China’s approach to various international and regional
organizations? What is China’s role in these organizations? How do other
nations attempt to manage China through embedding the nation in networks
of international norms and organizations?
Reading: Dragon, Ch. 4.
What does globalization look like from the Chinese perspective? What is the
meaning of interdependence for China’s foreign policy and domestic politics?
Reading: Kim, Ch. 9. Thomas G. Moore. “China and Globalization.” Asian
Perspective. Vol. 23, No. 4. 1999, pp. 65-95.
China’s participation in international organizations and its membership bid for
the World Trade Organization will be considered as a subsection of China’s role
in international organizations more generally. Is there a difference between
China’s participation in international economic organizations and those dealing
with security? Why and how does China engage the world through these
organizations? Reading: Kim, Ch. 11. Handouts on China and the WTO.
After exploring Chinese foreign policy for a semester, what have we learned?
What themes and commonalities are important in a study of China’s role in
world affairs?
Review for final examination.
Reading: Kim, Ch. 13.
