by Global Risk Insights
This is the second of a two-part analysis by a GRI Analyst working for the British government on what is in store for China in 2017. It explores China’s Catch-22 — the fact it is integrating itself further into the global economy and becoming a ‘responsible stakeholder’ in multilateral institutions, while concurrently showing signs of reliving the experience of the Ming Dynasty in turning inwards and becoming isolationist.
Although Chinese foreign policy has for a long-time been shaped by domestic developments, in the coming year more than ever, China’s diplomatic endeavours will be directly correlated to internal trends. Any change to the shape of its international agenda will be in reaction to developments of the uncertainty surrounding the recent events in the U.S and Europe.
China abroad in 2017
Abroad, 2016 was a particularly significant year for the Asian juggernaut. The Communist Party was handed an unprecedented legal ruling against them at the International Criminal Court, China ratified an important climate change agreement in Paris, Beijing agreed to sanction long-standing ally North Korea on Pyongyang’s illicit missile tests, and the country humiliatingly managed to secure only third place in the Rio Olympics.
