China's Rise as an International Factor: Connecting the Dots

The term 'peaceful development' has created ambiguity. It fails to capture the extent to which China has become a global influence whose economic policy decisions are essential to the world multilateral system. China's international strategy can no longer be guided only by the quest for 'stability' and by the principle of non-interference, because change and interdependence are a hallmark of this century. Neither can a relationship with the United States alone define China's international strategy. Hopefully, China will understand the usefulness for rising powers of making long-lasting compromises, and it will strengthen instead of weaken a set of international institutions that have allowed for the most prosperous and peaceful era in human history.