Foreign Policy Final

20th Party Congress

Major political meeting held in Beijing in 2022, where key leadership changes and party goals were decided

Xi Jinping secured a third term as the General Secretary of the CCP, breaking term-limit norms

Primus Inter Pares

“First among equals”

The CCP’s Politburo Standing Committee used to be on equal standing with the General Secretary, but this changed to hierarchical relationship

Hierarchical Relationship

Patron-client relationship between CCP’s committee and Xi Jinping (paramount leader)

Intergenerational Designation

Put in place by Deng Xiaoping

The current leader can’t choose his own successor; to avoid dictatorship, the old leader chooses his successor’s successor (means of checks and balances)

Factionalism

Interactions among 2+ small groups that compete, compromise, or confront one another within a larger group

Ex. Shanghai Clique vs Princelings

Princelings

Children of the country’s most powerful elites

Relatively good education, better working experience

Dominate the Chinese economy in every sector

Anti-Corruption Campaign

Political purge launched in 2012 by Xi Jinping

Expanded into permanent/indefinite mechanism of political control, administrative rectification, elite consolidation

Underlying goal to purge Xi’s political adversaries

Eight Point Guidelines

Code of conduct made in 2012 to prevent Chinese government officials from wasting public money and acting above the law

Power

The ability to influence others to get the outcome one wants

Via coercion, payments, or persuasion

Soft Power

The ability to achieve what you want through attraction and co-option rather than by coercion or payment; influence that elicits voluntary cooperation

Sources: national culture, political values

Hard Power

Military force and economic capability

Chinese Soft Power

Method of countering negative image and projecting positive image

Confucius Institute, Belt and Road Initiative

Traditional Chinese culture, alternative to western civilization

Confucius Institute

Non-profit global educational organization established to promote Chinese language learning, teach Chinese culture, and facilitate educational exchanges

Criticized as an attempt to advance the Chinese government’s political agendas

Nye’s Soft Power

Largely non-state (civil society, culture, universities)

Attract and co-opt voluntarily

Credibility is essential and propaganda undermines

Sharp Power

Manipulation of perception

Authoritarian method of influence that uses manipulation, censorship, and information distortion rather than attraction or military coercion

United Front Work Department

Key department of the CCP that manages political influence, co-opts elites, and neutralizes opposition

It manages relations with, gathers intelligence on, and attempts to gain influence over elite individuals and organizations inside and outside mainland China

Charhar Institute

Non-governmental Chinese think tank focusing on public diplomacy, foreign policy, and international relations

Wolf Warrior Diplomacy

Assertive and confrontational style of public diplomacy used by Chinese officials; aggressive rhetoric and rejection of foreign criticism

Challywood

China’s growing influence over Hollywood

Could lead to more pro-Chinese propaganda

Hammer for Beijing, Dagger for Japan

Korea’s strategic importance to China and Japan

Lips and Teeth

Used to describe the alliance between China and North Korea

North Korea as a shield between China and democratic forces in South Korea

The two nations rely on each other to survive; if one country falls, the other faces danger

Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance

Treaty between China and North Korea (marriage of convenience)

Established in 1961, renewed every 20 years

Mutual military aid and defense if attacked

Neoliberalism

Political and economic model that supports free markets, privatization, and minimal government control

Belief that private markets fix economic problems better than governments

Cheonan Sinking

Cheonan sank after an underwater explosion, which killed 46 sailors → NK torpedo caused the sinking

China didn’t acknowledge NK’s responsibility

Yeonpyeong Island Bombardment

NK launched an artillery attack on SK island Yeonpyeong

Violation of Armistice Agreement

China refrained from criticizing the North

Hostile Two-State Doctrine

Assertion that ROK and DPRK are two separate, sovereign states that should coexist permanently, rather than being parts of one divided nation destined for reunification

THAAD Shock

controversy caused by anti-ballistic missile system to intercept short and medium-range North Korean missiles, caused regional friction with China

Intended to protected SK from NK threat

Sunshine Policy

Kim Dae-jung

SK foreign policy aimed at peacefully engaging North Korea → active reconciliation, economic cooperation, and deterrence against armed provocation

First Inter-Korean Summit

Meeting between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il, held in 2000

June 15th Inter-Korean Joint Declaration → turningpoint for reconciliation, peace, and engagement within the Korean peninsula

Gold Collection Campaign (1998)

South Korean voluntarily surrendered personal gold items to help the country pay off its severe foreign debt to the IMF

1998

China’s Northeast Project

China claimed that ancient Korean kingdoms like Goguryeo were regional ethnic regimes of ancient China rather than parts of Korean history

Caused major friction with South Korea

Economic Pragmatism

Approach to policy that prioritizes practical outcomes and problem-solving over rigid political or economic policies

Controlled Hedging

Less confrontational rhetoric toward China, more economic engagement, but limited structural constraints of US alliance commitments and US-China rivalry

SUEC

Neoliberal Era

Era focused on market liberalization, privatization, austerity, employment flexibility

Economic efficiency maximized through global division of labor and free trade

Peace through interdependence

Post-Neoliberal Era

Following the 2008 GFC, COVID, Ukraine War, US-China Conflict, there’s been a fundamental shift in the global order

Weaponization of economic interdependence

State intervention is acceptable when the market outcomes pose a risk to national security and strategic autonomy

Involution

Excessive competition, deflation, overcapacity

Chinese economy in a race to the bottom that threatens to devolve into widespread stagnation

Caused by property-market downturn/real-estate slump and decline in consumer spending

Pax Silica

US-led economic security coalition launched in 2025 to secure and diversify supply changes for AI tech, semiconductors, and critical minerals → aimed to reduce reliance on China

Diversify rare-earth supply chain, reduce dependence on Chinese critical technologies

Security with the US, Economy with China

Korea’s relationship with the US and China

Intensifying US-China rivalry has rendered its maintenance untenable → led to SUEU