International Relations Today, 2nd Edition

China’s Foreign Policy After the Cold War

China maintained its spectacular economic growth after the Cold War and continued to use economic diplomacy as its major thrust in international relations. Although an ageing Deng Xiao Ping resigned from all official posts in 1991, he remained as the central figure in Chinese politics, and virtually controlled the party and the state in China till his death in 1997. The SME brought economic gains for China, which subsequently helped China in conducting international diplomacy more effectively. After the Cold War, the United States remained the only superpower in an altered international order. Deng’s pragmatic China wanted to be close to the world’s only remaining superpower. The United States also wanted ...