China’s Sanctions Dilemma

Chapter 8 summarises the main findings of this book. Due to China’s longstanding sanctions rhetoric, Chinese decision-makers had until the end of Xi Jinping’s first term avoided making open use of unilateral sanctions during periods of political dispute. This was particularly the case when their target states used rhetorical action to draw international attention to China’s attempted use of economic coercion. This chapter then reviews the theoretical and policy implications and discusses the future of China’s sanctions rhetoric and behaviour. It also suggests areas for further study, in particular the balance between economic inducement and coercion in China’s grand strategy as well as the links between economics and security.