China's Assertive and Aggressive Behaviour

Consider a few visible points of reference. The outbreak of COVID-19 has been, as Xi himself put it, "a major test of China's system and capacity for governance" - and arguably the greatest challenge the Communist Party has faced since the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests. The lockdown required to control the virus caused China's economy to shrink for the first time in over forty years, a painful blow after several years of slower growth and a trade war with the United States. As China's global stature grows, Beijing appears to be flexing its muscles more frequently on the international stage. As part of NPR's series on China this week, correspondents Louisa Lim and Frank Langfitt are looking at this evolving foreign policy. From Beijing, Louisa examines the forces driving China's policy, while Frank reports on why China's neighbors are feeling increasingly edgy. China's use of regional and international organizations to institutionalize its power while either denying India access to these organizations or marginalizing India within them has added a new competitive dynamic to the relationship. In the past decade, India has found itself ranged against China at the UN Security Council, East Asia Summit, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and the Asian Development Bank. In 2009, China vetoed a development plan for India by the latter in the disputed Arunachal Pradesh, thereby internationalizing a bilateral territorial dispute. This book will definitely prove to be a boon to teachers, students and research scholars.