QINGGUO JIA From Self-imposed Isolation to Global Cooperation: The Evolution of Chinese Foreign Policy Since the 1980s S ince the late 1970 s and the early 1980 s, especially since the end of the Cold War, China has made important adjustments in its foreign policy. China’s foreign policy has been evolving from one of an inward-looking, reactive and system­challenging nature to one of an increasingly out­ward-looking, pro-active and system-identifying character. While the change is far from being com­plete and it may be still too early to preclude a slowdown and even a reversal under the influence of a whole array of factors, the process is con­tinuing and deepening. Undoubtedly, the direc­tion of change is in the interest of Asia and the world as well as in China’s interest. ̈ It initiated a process of conceptual change. From then on, China gradually learned to view its relations with the outside world as a non zero-sum game and became increasingly inte­rested in international participation and coope­ration. ̈ Finally, it expressed China’s hope to cooperate with the international society in building a stable, just and mutually beneficial international order. The significance of this adjustment was not ob­vious at the time. However, it gradually changed the form and substance of China’s foreign policy with the passage of time. The adjustments Like foreign policies in other countries, China’s foreign policy has been under the influence of domestic and international developments and the evolution of official views of them. Such develop­ments do not necessarily get reflected in changes of basic principles. For example, China has upheld the five principles of peaceful coexistence for the last forty years, but in practice patterns of change in Chinese foreign policy have emerged. Broadly speaking, the year 1979 was a historical watershed in the history of China’s foreign policy. During this year, China assigned priority to econ­omic development and adopted a policy of reforms and openness. This adjustment of strategic priority had broad and far-reaching implications for China’s foreign policy. ̈ It demanded that Chinese diplomacy serve eco­nomic development rather than just focusing on military security and international status. ̈ It generated a need for China to learn and understand the rest of the world objectively so that it could make the best use of the developmen­tal opportunities the outside world has to offer. Ideology To begin with, China has made a deliberate deci­sion not to allow communist ideology to determ­ine its foreign policy and influence its foreign relations. Before 1979 , the Chinese Government basically took a realist approach in dealing with China’s foreign relations. That is to say that it attached primary importance to national interests such as territorial and sovereign integrity, inter­national status and national security in its diplo­matic behavior. However, ideological considera­tions did affect Chinese foreign policy and at times such as during the Cultural Revolution even came to dominate China’s diplomacy. 1 Between the 1. Yang Gongsu, Zhonghua renmin gongheguo wajiao lilun yu shijian(Theory and practice of the diplomacy of the People’s Republic of China)(Beijing: School of International Studies, Peking University, 1997 ), pp. 223­227 ; Jin Ge,»Zai waijiaobu ›duoquan‹ qianhou«(What happened before and after the»seize of power« in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) in An Jianshe ed., Zhou Enlai de yuihou suiyue: 1966-1976 (The last years of Zhou Enlai: 1966-1976 )(Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian Publishing House, 1996 ), pp. 207-243 . 168 Jia, The Evolution of Chinese Foreign Policy Since the 1980s IPG 2/99