ABSTRACT
Until very recently, to the extent that a consensus view existed in the scholarly literature on Chinese foreign policy, it has stressed China’s role as a status quo actor, practising proactive, skillful and successful diplomacy (Medeiros and Taylor 2003; Kang 2007; Shambaugh 2004/05; Storey 2011). If this consensus was ever completely true, it no longer is today. It is now apparent that Beijing is a more complex actor, and that China’s foreign policy presents particularly acute challenges to the East Asian region and the USA. in particular. This chapter assesses China’s policy towards East Asia since 2009. Three prominent issues in China’s regional policy are examined. These pertain to the South China Sea issue; the North Korean nuclear issue; and Sino–Japanese relations. In analysing these issues, it should be noted that there is a strong element of strategic interaction at work, and China is not the only actor to have contributed to regional instability. That said, our focus in this chapter is on Chinese policy.
