Ideological Foundations for the New Foreign Policy of the Peoples’ Republic of China (1978-2001)

Abstract

In 1978 with beginning of «reforms and opening up (to outer world)» the new foreign policy course of Chins was also started. The reason of its changes had its roots in new economic basis. When Mao Zedong was Chairman of the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC), international relations were regulated by ideological direction determined by Mao Zedong himself. After 1978 the basis of foreign policy formation had changed and a greater role was given to the economy and its necessities. Prior to the commencement of the «reforms and opening up» policy, the country suffered from large economic and social problems caused by maoist government’s mistakes, such as «the Great Leap Forward» and «Cultural Revolution». Economic indicators showed that the country was moving towards economic collapse. To solve the problem, PRC’s leaders had to rethink the basis of country building and to put economy, instead of ideology, at the forefront. The appropriate changes were made by the market economy’s mechanisms. Although the results of this new policy were outstanding, the Chinese ideological system still corresponded to Mao Zedong’s ideas. This contradiction had to be corrected, therefore after the positive changes in China’s economic situation caused by changes in its economic formation, Chinese leaders had to rethink both the country’s ideological basis and its foreign policy course. Despite the fundamental transformation of the foreign policy basis and the fact that Chinese actions in fields of economy and international relations did not correspond the Maoist conceptions, the new generation of Chinese leaders formally demonstrated succession to the ideas of the late Chairman Mao. The article gives an analysis of the Chinese foreign policy course in connection with its economic and ideological systems.