China

The territory most commonly known as Taiwan, an island area, is situated at its closest 81 miles from the coast of south-eastern China.

Since the 18th CCP Congress (autumn 2012), the concept of modern Chinese diplomacy has undergone significant changes, shifting its course towards the construction of a new 'diplomacy of the original Chinese great power' (tese dago waijiao 特色大国外交). It should be said at once that diplomacy is the most conservative sphere of intellectual activity in China in general and the CCP in particular. It has received a minimum of theoretical innovation throughout Chinese history, and it is in this regard that it is very important to know and understand its historical roots, context, vocabulary and ideological foundations. I will discuss these foundations in more detail in the second part of the article.

Recently, a number of US think tanks have regularly published both small publications and rather lengthy analytical papers on global competition. This is not just about rivalry on the world stage, but about competition between the great powers, which the authors generally refer to as the US, Russia and China.