Professor Minxin Pei: China's Three-Pronged Play for Global Leadership
Since Mao Zedong’s death, the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has served mainly as a tool to support the country’s economic development. Since 2008, however, the PRC’s foreign policy has changed dramatically. At first, the shift toward assertiveness was subtle. Yet since President Xi Jinping rose to power in late 2012, things have accelerated. Beijing’s actions have become far more ambitious and confrontational—a barely-disguised, three-pronged campaign to challenge Western leadership spanning economic affairs, security matters, and the contest for global public opinion.
