China and Coexistence
Beijing's National Security Strategy for the Twenty-First Century
Liselotte Odgaard
"Rather than dismissing the principle of (peaceful) coexistence as either propaganda or a
necessary policy of a weak power, Liselotte Odgaard unravels the concept as the driving
strategy behind China's foreign and national security policy and shows how it has been
successful in both protecting and progressively maximizing China's interests."
—David Shambaugh, George Washington University
"A superior analysis of a topic of tremendous importance to scholars and
policy makers alike."
policy makers alike."
—Qingmin Zhang, Peking University
“Peaceful coexistence,” long a key phrase in China’s strategic thinking, is a
constructive doctrine that offers China a path for influencing the international system.
constructive doctrine that offers China a path for influencing the international system.
So argues Liselotte Odgaard in this timely analysis of China's national security strategy in
the context of its foreign policy practice.
the context of its foreign policy practice.
China’s program of peaceful coexistence emphasizes absolute sovereignty and non-interference in the
internal affairs of other states.
Odgaard suggests that China’s policy of working within the international community and
with non-state actors such as the UN aims to win for China greater power and influence
without requiring widespread exercise of military or economic pressure.
with non-state actors such as the UN aims to win for China greater power and influence
without requiring widespread exercise of military or economic pressure.
Odgaard examines the origins of peaceful coexistence in early Soviet doctrine, its
mid-century development by China and India, and its ongoing appeal to developing countries.
mid-century development by China and India, and its ongoing appeal to developing countries.
She reveals what this foreign policy offers China through a comparative study of aspiring powers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She explores its role in China’s border disputes in the South China Sea and with Russia and India; in diplomacy in the UN Security Council over Iran, Sudan, and Myanmar; and in China’s handling of challenges to the legitimacy of its regime from Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Japan.
