To understand China’s diplomacy, you need to understand Chinese politics. Diplomacy is an extension of domestic politics; misunderstand the internal machinations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and you run the risk of misinterpreting China’s foreign policy. This is particularly true now, as the interaction between China’s internal affairs and its diplomacy has only intensified since President Xi Jinping took office.
Take the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) Beijing set up in the East China Sea in November 2013, several days after the Third Plenum. That important CCP meeting made the major decision to establish two new bodies: the leading group for overall reform and China’s National Security Commission. That decision can be considered a direct prelude to establishing the ADIZ.
Just as you can’t discuss Chinese foreign policy without considering domestic politics, you can’t talk about domestic politics without talking about Xi Jinping. Outside of China, Xi is the subject of endless conjecture. In this analysis, I try to answer five major questions about China’s internal politics based on what I have learned as a journalist and long-term observer of China’s development.
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