Chinese Perspectives on International Relations: A Framework for Analysis (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Chinese Perspectives on International Relations: A Framework for Analysis Harvey Nelsen (bio) Gerald Chan . Chinese Perspectives on International Relations: A Framework for Analysis. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991. xvii, 193 pp. Hardcover $65.00, ISBN 0-312-21909-1. This is a book in which it is easy to trace the author's intellectual journey. Gerald Chan began with the hope of providing the world's first English-language study of international relations as formulated and practiced in China. But he found that the Chinese are still in the early stages of development and sophistication in that academic field. So he changed the focus of the book to the foundations of Chinese foreign policy, although he does not announce this to his readers. He finds that in China the field of international relations is policy-driven rather than academically [End Page 75] driven as in the West. But Chan fails to take the last step and admit that the perception of international relations therefore becomes only one of several foundations for foreign-policy making. This does not mean that the author has failed, however. His extensive use of Chinese sources—including interviews—provides us with valuable materials on Chinese perceptions. He also analyzes in some depth the differences between Chinese and Western perspectives on international relations. The book is somewhat dated in the sense that globalization receives only three brief mentions. Since Western scholarship is obsessed with the topic, it is hard to believe that the Chinese are not devoting more effort to figuring out how China will fit into such an international system. At the end of the book, Chan comes back to international relations as a field in China, but that is anticlimactic. His description is disheartening: there have been but a handful of conferences and a score of scholars working in the field. And Chan is quick to point out that the heavy hand of the CCP restricts creativity. This is an excellent book for understanding how the Chinese perceive their role in the world. It would be useful as an assigned text in a graduate seminar on Chinese foreign policy, or perhaps for a student to report on in a graduate seminar on international relations. For an undergraduate text, I prefer In the Eyes of the Dragon: China Views the World, edited by Yong Deng and Fei-ling Wang (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999). The latter does not try to provide the theoretical perspective emphasized by Chan, but it does cover a broad spectrum of Chinese perceptions and interests. In the Eyes of the Dragon also contains valuable normative perspectives, making explicit proposals about how the United States should view and treat China. [End Page 76] Harvey Nelsen Harvey Nelsen is a professor in the International Studies Program, Department of Government and International Affairs, University of South Florida. He has written on Chinese foreign policy, military affairs, and, more recently, on the Chinese state. Copyright © 2003 University of Hawai'i Press