中国の政治・社会的変動と国際関係 -「独立自主」外交について-

東アジアの新しい国際環境

抄録

“Independence and Initiative” are now called the “general guideline of our foreign policy formulated by the constitution.” This guideline, as early as 1982, became China's diplomatic strategy. In September 1982, Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, officially confirmed it in his report to the 12th Congress of the CCP.
In the late 1970s and early 80s after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, China continued to hold on to the strategy of anti-Soviet hegemonism. In so doing, China urged the United States, Japan and Western Europe to build a strong anti-Soviet united front.
This strategy is now fading. Instead, the “Independent and Initiatory” strategy has entered the stage. Such a diplomacy might have been developed as early as late 1978, before and after the Third Plenum of the CCP, though its application to actual diplomacy had to wait until 1982. As a matter of fact, Foreign Minister Wu Xueqian reconfirmed in December 1983, “Ever since the Third Plenum, we have firmly held on to the foreign policy of independence and initiative.”
The Third Plenum is regarded as the “great turning point throughout the historic period of socialism.” Thereafter, China's domestic political and social changes took place on a full scale. In this context, the “Independent and Inititatory” diplomacy should be closely related with political and social changes. This article sets forth a preliminary analysis of the “Independent and Initiatory” diplomacy in relation to political and social changes within China. The contents, characteristics, and future of this diplomacy are examined.