The New China and the International System

China has arrived on the periphery of development, bringing with it a wide political and economic agenda. This marks a new phase in China's international projection and in the world system itself. What are the goals of this new New China in terms of international politics? There are many who claim that China entertains ambitions of world dominance, seeking to move into the position the United States has held in terms of planetary leadership. In a manifestation of what comes close to resembling sino-phobia (a new version of the "yellow threat"), there are those who argue that Chinese development seeks to concentrate world wealth, breaking up the economies of other nations of the world. In advancing the hypothesis that Peking has inaugurated a new stage in international politics, substituting the one in which the New China was struggling to regain sovereignty and development, we base our argument on the relationships that China has established with the African continent. The new New China, then, has begun to transform the world system itself. In this sense, we argue, China has sought to avoid hegemonies, whether that of the Unitied States or its own. If this were not so, its fate could turn out to be similar to that of Germany's, in the aftermath of two World Wars. Yet such strategies might not be feasible, since China must act today within the context of post-World War diplomatic fluidity and an aging contemporary capitalism whose historic centers are in rapid decline .

Chinese Diplomacy; International System; China-Africa Relations