Globalization and socialization in China*

Abstract

The end of the Cold War has marked the rise of globalization as one of the contending issues in international relations. As a dominant wave of world transition, globalization requires the states to coordinate their behavior and align their policies and standards to a generalized principle of conduct or to certain suggested directions. While some states have actively and positively responded to these changes, a few others have struggled to retard the influence of globalization, viewing it as a threat to social stability, state sovereignty, and national and cultural identity. However, China shows a dual response to this challenge. It welcomes globalization as a way to enrich national competitiveness, and it confines the impact of globalization exclusively within the economic field only, lest its regime stability be shaken. Hence, this paper argues that the impact of globalization on Chinese international behavior falls short of a fundamental change in Chinese worldview. To prove this argument, this paper explores the Chinese characteristics of globalization and China's domestic impediments to limit socialization.