Is There Such a Thing as a Confucianist Chinese Foreign Policy? A Case Study of the Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

As the largest emerging power of the international regime, China actively pursues opportunities for outward economic expansion. In doing so, the Chinese leadership is in favour of using classic Confucian concepts to explain the underlying motivations and approaches of China’s economic expansion. They differ largely from the traditional western International Relations (IR) interpretation of the Chinese foreign policy. Hereby, this research explores the Confucian revival in the Chinese leadership discourses in the context of Asian values. It aims to answer the question: how are Confucian ideas utilized for creating new meaning for Chinese foreign policy. We begin by considering how Confucianism fits into the current debates on universal norms and particularly Asian norms and values, engaging with the discussions about Globalizing the study of Regionalism and IR. Secondly, we reflect on the ways in which Confucianism has evolved over time and maintained its relevance for Chinese contemporary political thought. Finally, we contextualise the Confucian references of Xi Jinping’s administration by locating them within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has come to define Xi’s presidency.