1st Edition
Xi Jinping’s ‘Chinese Dream’ China’s Renewed Foreign and Security Policy
Singh analyses the influence of Xi’s 'Chinese Dream' on China’s foreign relations and security postures.
Xi Jinping’s rise has led to a paradigm shift in many aspects of China’s domestic and international politics. A key element of this has been the ideological vision shorthanded as the 'Chinese Dream', combining elements of nationalism, Confucian ideology, and economic expansionism. Singh evaluates the various changes in China’s nominally communist ideology in the post-Mao era, with an emphasis on the implications for China’s economic and security relations with other countries. He particularly focusses on China’s approach to South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region, key elements of China’s strategy.
An insightful guide to understanding the direction of China’s foreign and security policy, and especially its impact on India–China relations.
1. The Ideological Laboratory of Xi's Chinese Dream 2. Convenience and Utility: The CPC and Its Trysts with China’s Culture 3. Xi Jinping’s ‘Chinese Dream’: A Confucian China 4. Mapping the ‘Chinese Dream’: Foreign Policy under Xi Jinping 5. Belt and Road Initiative: Continuity of China’s Foreign Economic Engagements 6. Xi Jinping’s ‘Chinese Dream’ and China’s Security 7. The ‘Chinese Dream’ in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region 8. Xi Jinping’s ‘Confucian’ Dream: Implications for China and the World
Biography
Dr. Prashant Kumar Singh has researched Chinese and Taiwanese affairs at the East Asia Centre of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi, for the last 13 years. He has extensively published on China, Taiwan and East Asia. He has received several prestigious fellowships and travel grants. He has travelled widely in East Asia, especially in China and Taiwan. He obtained his M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Chinese Studies at the Centre for East Asian Studies at the School of International Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
"This insightful study makes an important and timely contribution to the literature on Xi Jinping,
his “Chinese Dream” and its influence on Chinese foreign policies and security postures. Prashant Kumar Singh’s analysis connects the evolution of China’s communist ideology with regard to culture and nationalism with the paradigm shift in Chinese foreign and security policy under Xi. Using official Chinese Communist Party documents, data, interviews and other scholarly writings, the book provides a comprehensive assessment of the drivers of Xi Jinping’s external policies. Singh’s analysis will be of great interest to readers seeking to better understand the roots and implications of China’s approach to India and the world on the eve of Xi Jinping’s third term as China’s top leader." ---Bonnie S. Glaser, Director, Asia Program, German Marshall Fund of the US"Dr. Prashant Kumar Singh’s study of Xi Jinping’s ‘Chinese Dream’: China’s Renewed Foreign and Security Policy makes a significant and comprehensive contribution to our understanding of contemporary China. His acute analysis of PRC leader Xi Jinping’s sharp departures from his predecessors’ policies, and his demonstration of how these changes have been driven by Xi’s ideological commitment to the so-called “China Dream,” open a new path to comprehending the depth and breadth of Xi’s policy shift from Marxism-Leninism to traditional Chinese Confucian culture and nationalism. Dr. Singh’s study draws on Xi’s own explanations of his “Chinese Dream” to illuminate Xi’s economic, security, and foreign policies. He also ably dissects the inherent contradictions between Xi’s claim to “universalist” principles and the PRC’s nationalistic “core interests.” It is a book any scholar or student working on China will want to have in their library." ---William A. Stanton, Ph.D., 司 徒 文, University Chair Professor, International College of Innovation, National Chengchi University
"This is an important study on what drives China’s policies today, and what implications this, holds for the future of Asia. This study of Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream”, connects the idea to Xi’s focus on Maoist ideology within the CCP and to the cultural nationalism on which he has built his support within China. Importantly, the author examines how this notion, now a ubiquitous term in all official announcements from the People’s Republic of China, has influenced economic, security, and foreign policy under Xi Jinping. As the author argues, the notion of the “Chinese Dream” defines Xi’s actions and behaviour on China’s core interests: the advocacy of the China Model abroad, greater coercion in suppressing dissent at home, and greater assertion in strategically fraught domains like the Indo-Pacific, on the India-China border, and with its major trading partners like the United States and the EU. Clearly, the term is not to be dismissed as another catchphrase from a leader who wants to be enshrined as a Party ideologue" ---Professor Madhu Bhalla, Editor of India Quarterly of Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA)
"Prashant Kumar Singh explores the complexities of Chinese diplomacy under President Xi Jinping with deftness and clarity. Xi Jinping’s ‘Chinese Dream’: China’s Renewed Foreign and Security Policy examines thoroughly what is perhaps the most ambitious yet jeopardizing experiment of the People’s Republic of China since its foundation. As the Communist regime in Beijing enters an era of uncertainty, Singh’s masterfully written book provides solid, empirical analysis of the fragile nature of authoritarianism with Xi’s characteristics." ---Kei Hakata, Professor at Seikei University
"A comprehensive study of the concepts backing Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream” and of the multi-faceted strategies deployed for asserting China’s rising status in a “new Era”. This must-read analysis ends by asking a decisive question: can the wolf warrior diplomacy be enough for promoting an inspiring global alternative model?" ---Jean-Luc Racine, Emeritus Senior Fellow, Centre for South Asian Studies (CNRS-EHESS)
"This book describes internal logic of Xi Jinping’s ‘China dream’. You will know where the world is taken by rising China." ---MIMURA, Mitsuhiro, Senior Research Fellow, The Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia
"By examining the ideological and cultural roots of Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream,” this book provides a plausible explanation about the dramatic shifts of China's foreign policy from maintaining a low profile (taoguang yanghui) to wolf-warrior diplomacy (zhanlang waijiao) in recent years, and how it has created more challenges for Xi. A timely and well-structured piece for China observers." ---Mumin Chen, Ph.D.,
Deputy Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India, New Delhi, Professor of International Politics, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City, Taiwan"Not little has been published on Xi Jinping’s signature policy of “Chinese Dream.” But Prashant Kumar Singh’s book, backed by a wealth of information and a wide range of reference sources, stands out by offering a strategic image that points to the Confucian cultural roots. It helps us make sense of why this is Xi’s “dream” and guides us to anticipate what will come out of it. This book is undoubtedly a valuable addition to the literature on Chinese foreign affairs." ---Ka Po Ng, Professor at the University of Niigata Prefecture, Japan, and author of Interpreting China’s Military Power
