Publication

This report seeks to answer the question about the implications of China’s rapid rise for international order from an identity perspective. The key argument is that China is currently undergoing an identity shift towards Sino-centrism; that is, it is pursuing a 'self-centering' process based on China’s civilizational past and cultural heritage. The foundations of this process are the four 'identity markers' of Sino-civilization, Confucian philosophy, dynastic authoritarianism, and Han-ethnocentrism. The report concludes that these markers provide China with a distinct and non-Western societal template that may potentially set a new course for Chinese foreign policy.