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The Belt and Road Initiative from the Historical Context of China’s Diplomacy Towards Weaker Nations: The Fusion of Idealism and Realism in China’s Pursuit of a New International Order

Jeong Kyung Seo 1

1서울대학교 아시아연구소

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study considers China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched in 2013, as a resistance to the Western-centric mainstream order and traces the long-term historical context of China’s diplomacy towards weaker nations, which has been closely related to its pursuit of a new international order. Assuming that Confucian thought has consistently projected ‘moral politics’ emphasizing morality, power, and recognition onto Chinese diplomacy, the study analyzes China’s diplomacy towards weaker nations from the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the period before the launch of the BRI, dividing it into periods of challenge, compliance, and tension with the mainstream order. This analysis interprets the intricate interplay and periodic changes between idealism and realism inherent in China’s diplomacy towards weaker nations and offers a critical perspective on the BRI, which has emerged as a key example of moral diplomacy.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.