Yaqing Qin - Future in Retrospect: Chinas Diplomatic History Revisited

Series Editors: Qin Yaqung ( China Foreign Affairs University, China )
Chen Zhirui ( China Foreign Affairs University, China )

Vol. 1China and the International Society: Adaption and Self-Consciousness
edited by Zhao Jinjun and Chen Zhirui

Vol. 2Future in Retrospect: Chinas Diplomatic History Revisited
edited by Qin Yaqing and Chen Zhirui

Published by

World Century Publishing Corporation

27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Qin, Yaqing, 1953 | Chen, Zhirui.

Title: Future in retrospect : Chinas diplomatic history revisited / [edited by]

Yaqing Qin (China Foreign Affairs University, China) &

Zhirui Chen (China Foreign Affairs University, China).

Description: [Hackensack, New Jersey] : World Century, 2016. |

Series: China foreign affairs review ; vol. 2 | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016002921 | ISBN 9781938134838 (hardcover : alkaline paper)

Subjects: LCSH: China--Foreign relations--19491976. | China-Foreign relations-1976 |

Cold War--Diplomatic history. | Universal Postal UnionHistory20th century. |

China--Foreign relationsAlbania. | Albania-Foreign relationsChina. |

Medical assistance, ChineseHistory20th century.

Classification: LCC DS777.8 .F87 2016 | DDC 327.51009/045

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016002921

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Copyright 2016 by World Century Publishing Corporation

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher .

For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher.

Desk Editors: Chandrima Maitra/Qi Xiao

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Printed in Singapore

China Foreign Affairs Review

Series Editors

QIN Yaqing (China Foreign Affairs University)

CHEN Zhirui (China Foreign Affairs University)

Editorial Board Members

Ja Ian Chong (National University of Singapore)

Da Wei (China Institute of Contemporary International Relations)

Fan Jishe (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Taylor Fravel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

G John Ikenberry (Princeton University)

Jiang Guoqing (China Foreign Affairs University)

David Kang (University of Southern California)

David M Lampton (The Johns Hopkins University)

Jeffrey W Legro (University of Virginia)

Li Wei (Renmin University of China)

Liu Feng (Nankai University)

Iver Neumann (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Pang Xun (Tsinghua University)

Vincent Pouliot (McGill University)

Pu Xiaoyu (University of Nevada)

Robert Ross (Boston College)

Randall Schweller (Ohio State University)

Shi Bin (Nanjing University)

Su Changhe (Fudan University)

Su Hao (China Foreign Affairs University)

Wang Yizhou (Peking University)

Wei Ling (China Foreign Affairs University)

William C Wohlforth (Dartmouth College)

Yin Jiwu (Beijing Foreign Studies University)

Zhang Qingmin (Peking University)

Zhang Yunling (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Zhou Fangyin (Guangdong University of Foreign Studies)

Zhu Liqun (China Foreign Affairs University)

This volume is a collection of several research papers written in recent years and published in Foreign Affairs Review related to the topic of the diplomatic history of the PRC.

Foreign Affairs Review has always attached great importance to major events and hotspot issues in contemporary Chinese diplomacy and international relations. But should you learn the ins and outs of the Chinese diplomacy and gain an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the realities and the possibilities, an investigation into the diplomatic history is indeed an important and helpful approach. The seemingly contradictory theme of Future in Retrospect is the key to the inherent connection between history and reality of the Chinese diplomacy. The bilateral relations between China and the DPRK nowadays seem complicated and intertwined, but how did they evolve in the course of history? So mixed as the relations are, they become the carrier of countless historical marks and symbols. Sino-Vietnam relations follow a similar path. Also, foreign aid has played a significant role in the process of Chinese diplomacy. Yet it reflects different identities and purposes at different times and in different spaces. It is also under the profound influence of domestic policy in China and corresponds to the evolving worldviews and diplomatic interactions, thus its success and failure represents a microcosm of the ups and downs of the country.

Nonetheless, previous research on the Chinese diplomacy is inadequate to some extent, as it was mainly the fruition of diplomatic historians who endeavored to construct an official, orthodox and grand narrative of history. Observing the Chinese diplomatic history merely through the lens of the Chinese may risk inadequate and superficial understanding of the developments and details of the history. As a result, works of unique perspectives and critiques are hard to find. The slow declassification of the diplomatic archives hinders the review, sorting and updating of the documentation. Undoubtedly, these inadequacies need to be corrected and improved as we learn and carry out further research. This volume represents the latest efforts and works to answer these questions.

First, these chapters all have clear-cut themes and take a problem-oriented approach, focusing on subjects not yet fully explored, or even neglected, in the past, such as Chinas policy toward the UPU, Chinas internship programs for Vietnam, Albania and other countries during the Cold War. These works are groundbreaking.

Second, these chapters elaborate on the topics against the backdrop of both domestic and international developments, in an effort to find out new thematic significance and to construct new historical and theoretical frameworks for interpretation. Since the reform and opening up, Chinas integration into the international system has become a realistic and remarkable historical process. It has naturally become the meta-narrative of Chinese humanities and social sciences and therefore constitutes the framework and background for the authors of this volume to carry out research and construct their discursive schema. Thus, we can see Chinas policy toward the UPU in fact provides a telling example as well as a typical case, demonstrating the complex reasoning and logic behind the process when a fledgling and self-sustaining New China integrated itself into the international community. Chinas Policy to Assist Vietnam in Its Resistance War against France, starting from the spring of 1950, was the first time that PRC gave major military assistance to a foreign country. It was also the first major event in PRCs military involvement in its neighboring regions since its founding. It had long-lasting effects on Chinas East Asia policy and foreign assistance policy throughout the Cold War. The interaction between Chinas revolutionary ideology, its alliance with the Soviet Union alliance and geo-security considerations proved to be quite dramatic.