Evolution of Chinese Researchers' Views on the National Interests (from the 1990s till Present)

This paper aims to contribute to this relatively under-studied field in China by analyzing the development of the Chinese academia’s definition of national interest. It wasn’t until the early 1990s the concept of national interest grew more popular and garnered the attention of the Chinese academia. During his regime in the 1990s, Jiang Zemin continued to adopt Deng Xiaoping’s policy of prioritizing economic development. But during the Hu Jintao era, Beijing began shifting from Deng and Jiang’s policy of “hide and bide” to the new peaceful development policy, of which forming a stronger diplomatic presence and influence is an important part. As such, some scholars began to argue for the importance for security interests and increasing China’s diplomatic influence, which was later confirmed by the Chinese government to be its national interest through official document. In the Xi Jinping era, new changes in the international arena prompted Xi to call for diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. Two paths laid out in front of Chinese scholars. One was a complete introspection which consisted of searching for China’s national interest purely from its history and from opinions of significant Chinese figures, combining elements of traditional Chinese philosophy. The other was to continue learning from the best practices of other great nations. The theories of Russia scholar Kortunov caught the attention of the Chinese academia. An analysis of the development of China’s national interest theories reveals that China went through discussions on public interest and economic interest, before shifting the narrative back to security and nationalism.