Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour; Ehsan Mohammadi
Volume 28, Issue 120 , March 2023, , Pages 3-24
Abstract
Due to the increase of China’s power in the International arena and the non-compliance of China’s behavior with realistic theories on one hand and the existence of long-standing ...
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Due to the increase of China’s power in the International arena and the non-compliance of China’s behavior with realistic theories on one hand and the existence of long-standing strategic traditions and China’s cultural continuity during the past millennials on the other, studying the cultural elements is of central importance for understanding China’s foreign policy. Due to the importance of cultural elements in China’s foreign policy, the main question of the present research states: how China’s strategic culture has affected China’s foreign policy regarding South China Sea conflict. China’s strategic culture is a dual culture in which there is a tendency for using military and non-military means simultaneously; this means that China’s strategic culture is not absolutely pacific or belligerent. Before the dawn of Xi Jinping’s leadership, the need for a low tension environment for advancing economic development led the Chinese leaders to resort to Confucian slogans such as peaceful development; after the start of Xi Jinping’s leadership, military and economic power gained same importance in China’s foreign policy. This new approach has been evident regarding this conflict due to the increase of China’s military mobility in South China Sea.
