Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 266
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-4422-1301-2 • Hardback • January 2014 • $111.00 • (£85.00)
978-1-4422-1302-9 • Paperback • January 2014 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
978-1-4422-1303-6 • eBook • January 2014 • $42.50 • (£33.00)
Sebastian Heilmann is founding director of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin and professor of comparative government at the University of Trier. Dirk H. Schmidt is senior lecturer at the University of Trier.
Chapter 1: Introduction: What Does China Want?
Chapter 2: Foreign Policy Decision Making
Chapter 3: Reorientations in China’s Foreign Policy
Chapter 4: China's Security Policy
Chapter 5: China in the World Economy
Chapter 6: China’s Role in International Environmental and Climate Policy
Chapter 7: China and International Human Rights Policy
Chapter 8: The Taiwan Issue
Chapter 9: China’s Relations with Japan and Korea
Chapter 10: Sino-American Relations
Chapter 11: China’s Relations with Europe
Chapter 12: Empire and Guerrilla: China’s Multifaceted Foreign Relations
Sources and Literature
Appendix: Chinese-English Glossary
This excellent book offers an outstanding overview of China's international relations, going beyond conventional analyses of its 'peaceful rise.' Heilmann and Schmidt thoughtfully examine a huge amount of information on China's foreign economic and security policy, challenging the 'Cold War-era mentality' of the Western academic literature on China's foreign relations. The book shows that instead of becoming a market-based, democratic power, tightly integrated in the Western-dominated global order, China is challenging this order with its own concepts of order, even if it engages in substantive cooperation with the US and the EU. The first part examines China's foreign policy objectives, the foreign policy decision-making process, the changes in China's foreign policy after the adoption of structural economic reforms in 1979, China's security, environmental, and international human rights policy, and its spectacular rise to the top level of the global economy in less than 30 years. The second discusses the potential for armed conflict over the status of Taiwan, and China's relations with Japan, North and South Korea, the US, and the EU. . . .Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.
— Choice Reviews
Heilmann and Schmidt’s clear and objective style makes this book indeed a welcome addition to a literature where authors often tend to make sweeping judgments and where the global economy is presented as a zero-sum game. The book provides a concise and comprehensive overview of China’s international relations that is accessible to non-expert readers. It covers an impressive scope of topics ranging from traditional foreign policy issues over security policy and international economic relations to the challenges of climate change. . . . The individual chapters can be read independently, making the book a useful handbook on the issues concerned. . . .Yet even though China continues to change rapidly, Heilmann and Schmidt ably identify and describe the long-term trends in China’s foreign political and economic relations, and that makes the book more than a mere snapshot. The authors clearly know what they are writing about and present a balanced assessment of the state of China’s foreign affairs. Overall, this is an excellent reading to familiarize oneself with the major trends in China’s foreign political and economic relations. The book provides a wealth of information and references that will make it a worthwhile read also for those who consider themselves ‘China experts.’
— China Quarterly
A timely book presenting a uniquely European perspective on its subject, China's Foreign and Economic Relations is a must-read for experts and non-experts alike.
— Survival: Global Politics and Strategy
This superb review of China’s international relations and policy has astonishing breadth, covering security and economic dimensions as well as traditional foreign policy issues. The authors have packed in an enormous amount of material, and they do not pull any punches. The book presents the full scope of China’s rise and global ambitions, backed up with abundant documentation, in a clear and objective style that leaves readers free to draw their own conclusions. At the same time, the authors provide many fresh and unique insights into Chinese behavior and impacts. Accessible to those seeking an introduction to Chinese international policy, this volume will provide something new to even the most experienced reader.
— Barry Naughton, University of California, San Diego
Ideal for courses on the international relations of Asia or China and the foreign policy of Asia or China
Provides unconventional explanations of China’s rise against the backdrop of global economic and technological transformation
Highlights the unorthodox, and often overlooked, approaches and forces that are driving China’s global expansion
Offers a unique analysis of China-Europe relations as compared to Sino-US ties and conflicts; covers multilateralism and functional areas, notably global economic issues and climate change
The compelling and controversial final chapter, designed to spur discussion, considers China’s “imperial” qualities and presents the first analysis of the “guerilla” features of Chinese foreign relations
Shows that the ability to innovate and adapt, which China has demonstrated in its foreign relations over the past three decades, is founded not in centralism but rooted in the conscious toleration and support of decentralized initiatives
Based on careful, thoughtful, and complete research
Tone is balanced, presentation is clear
The authors argue that the context of contemporary China's foreign economic and political relations is fluid to such a degree that students’ capacity for independent analysis and reflection is becoming ever more important
Structured to allow students to make their own judgments
Provides quality links to selected Chinese and Western web portals to facilitate readers’ own research
Presents succinct information and data in carefully developed tables, boxes, and figures
Includes a Chinese-English glossary of terms