Thirteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

China’s partnership diplomacy is a continuous, comprehensive, and dynamic diplomatic strategy for the twenty-first century. Yet, very little research has explored the substance of China’s partnerships or the international experience that they offer. This study presents a quantitative content analysis of 148 joint statements released at state visits between China’s heads of state and representatives from 77 partners. Using a series of maps to display our results, this paper explores China’s partnership diplomacy within the larger theoretical context of models of international affinity. In contrast to earlier models of international belonging, such as the imperial “politics of prestige” and the liberal “politics of equality”, which both ground regime legitimacy in the functions of security, China’s partnership diplomacy yields a network that emphasizes the productive functions of state capacity and international interaction. It determines that China’s partnership diplomacy reproduces bilateral relations of mutual trust and respect that ground China’s regime legitimacy in economic development. Partnerships operate outside of the liberal multilateral security communities that generate international affinity through a difference-blind multilateral framework. China’s partnerships constitute a difference-sensitive bilateral framework that provides a source of international affinity to countries castigated by the liberal international experience.