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By Ankit Panda
Is Xi Jinping really about (to) untether Chinese foreign policy from long-standing CCP guidelines?
Commentators both here at The Diplomat and elsewhere have presented several perspectives on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remarks at the Chinese Communist Party’s two-day foreign affairs work conference which concluded this Saturday. There remains some disagreement about whether Xi’s remarks indicate a major paradigm shift in Beijing’s decades-old and relatively constant foreign policy which rested on the ideological pillars of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and Deng Xiaoping’s sage advice of tao guang yang hui (“Keep a low profile and bide your time”).
Observing China’s behavior in recent years — particularly in the Asia-Pacific – it seems that neither of these accurately captures Chinese foreign policy in practice. With increasing Chinese assertiveness in both the East and South China Seas, Beijing has caused neighbors both near and far to take notice and hedge accordingly. Based on his remarks last week, Xi is ready to acknowledge this reality: “We should make more friends while abiding by the principle of non-alignment and building a global network of partnership,” Xi told the foreign affairs work conference, hinting at a change in China’s approach to alliances. China will forge a ”global network of partnerships,” Xi said. Additionally, according to reports, Xi additionally emphasized the role of business and technological cooperation in bringing China closer to other countries.
Read the full story at The Diplomat