Abstract
Moral realism is an important theory in the Chinese School of International relations theory, it argues that the political leadership of each state has a decisive influence on policy preferences. This paper used the moral realism model to explain the policy preference of China and America in the South China Sea. It found that it can explain the restraint and confrontation of both sides, but failed to justify the tension between China and its neighboring countries.
Highlights
From the early 1990s, a large scale of western theories like realism and behaviorism were introduced to Chinese scholars
Moral realism is a theory of international relations that emphasizes that political leadership determines the change of the balance of power between great powers and the change of the international system
From the argument of the last section, we can indicate that moral realism first determines the strategic interests of a country based on its position and comprehensive strength, and analyzes the political leadership type, those two factors influence the strategic preference of a state together
Summary
From the early 1990s, a large scale of western theories like realism and behaviorism were introduced to Chinese scholars. Guo (2017) argued that if the dominant and rising power are both aiming for system dominance and follow the same way to obtain international leadership, it is not necessary to introduce the pre-Qin thought, because the framework of realism is sufficient to explain the problem. If it wanted to emphasize the contribution of traditional Chinese thought, the assumption that each state has the same acting logic does not fit anymore.
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