The domestic sources of China’s more assertive foreign policy

China’s more assertive policy in the East and South East Asia region since 2008 has been explained either in terms of its rising power, a belief that the United States is in decline, or even the complexities of the Chinese state’s bureaucratic political structures. This article suggests another explanation – namely that China’s more assertive strategy is an attempt to shore up legitimacy at home at a time of increasing domestic stress.