CHINA’S NATIONAL INTEREST

Yan Xuetong

Preface

I started to think of studying our national interest in 1992 when I was preparing to return to China from the United States where I had abtained my Ph.D degree in political science. There are so many debates about national interest in the US that some American scholars are already tired of this topic. In China the situation is quite different. There are not enough discussions of national interest and few serious works exist. The reason for the lack of studies of Chinese national interests is primarily due to a lack of basic conceptual knowledge. Among the Chinese, there are generally two schools of thought about national interests. One assumes that without study everyone can also understand what our national interests are and the other believes that national interests are not the business of the ordinary people but rather the concerns of statesmen.

These assumptions are not surprising because most people’s work does not require profound knowledge of international relations. The problem is that the students of international relations did not pay sufficient attention to the scientific explanation of national interests. Although some Chinese scholars touched on the topic of national interest in their work, they just repeated the same three hypotheses: attaining national interests is the goal of foreign policy, there are different types of national interests, and national interests have a class nature. Nearly all approached these three hypotheses with conclusions and definitions supported by quoting well-known persons rather than by scientific analysis and empirical studies. Unfortunately the question of what is China’s national interest still awaits an answer today, even though “national interest” or “state interest” are frequently mentioned in our government’s foreign policy documents and speeches.

My purpose in writing the book is not to clarify concepts of national interest but to link the theoretical study of national interest to diplomatic practice and let the latter benefit from the former. Understanding national interest is the basis for effective protection of our national interests, while agreement on our national interests is the base for studying our foreign policy. Therefore, I deem it profoundly and realistically valuable to do a systematic study of China’s national interests.

Another reason for writing this book is to arouse the attention of my compatriots, especially students of foreign policy, to our national interests. In China we have far more scholars who study the foreign policies of the US, Japan or Russia than those who study our own foreign policy. Most of the Chinese scholars of international relations can talk authoritatively about others’ policy toward China but few of them are able to give thoughtful analysis of Chinese foreign policy when they are questioned. Some people believe that all Chinese know our foreign policy and the others hold that we do not have a foreign policy. Although these two views are totally different, they result from the same problem -- a lack of knowledge about our foreign policy and the reasons behind those policies. I will be very grateful if this book can stimulate my Chinese colleagues in international studies to develop an interest in our foreign policy.

Many institutions and persons deserve thanks for their contributions to this book. I first express my sincere appreciation to the Returning Student Foundation of the National Education Committee who provided financial support for my research. Without the National Education Committee's financial aid, it would have been impossible to complete the research within two years. I also owe thanks to the Reference Center of the Chinese Institute of Contemporary International Relations which provided the main materials and data for my study. I need to thank Mr. Xue Gang, the librarian of that center, for his help of purchasing statistic materials and yearbooks, which saved me much time and energy. I am in debt to my students Wu Xingzuo and Lou Qinghong. They undertook the job of proof reading the entire whole book and raised questions that helped me avoid mistakes. I cannot forget the help from Ms. Li Hongxia who worked very hard typing my scribbled manuscripts. Sometimes even I could not find the sequence of each sentence. We may imagine how much she suffered from my illegible handwriting. Finally, I want to give my heartfelt thanks to my wife, Li Peizhi. She suffered the hardship of a long separation from me and took the full responsibility of raising our daughter, Yan Jin. Her great sacrifice made it possible for me to devote my full energy to completing the research within two years. I dedicate this book to my wife as an expression of my deep love for her.