The Rise and Challenges of China's Harmonious Diplomacy

The Rise and Challenges of China's Harmonious Diplomacy
Speaker:
Ms. Anne Wu

China’s diplomacy is gradually evolving to a more extroverted, pragmatic, and mutually-adaptive diplomacy that emphasizes harmony between countries and between peoples. This transformation has been coincident with China’s emergence as a world power and with its reclaiming of the cultural richness of Confucianism. Many countries welcome China’s practice of harmony-oriented diplomacy since it projects China as a benign power and makes China’s foreign policy more transparent and predictable. On the other hand, skeptics remain concerned about the sustainability and effectiveness of harmony-oriented diplomacy in a world of conflict. Proper understanding of and reaction to China’s harmony-oriented diplomacy can help smooth China’s transition and orient it towards being a contributor to a better world order. Ms. Anne Wu will use examples of recent Chinese diplomatic initiatives to illustrate these points and to show how our own diplomacy should respond to achieve the best possible future for all involved parties.

Ms. Anne Wu is a Research Associate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, working on the Joint International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom. Prior to joining Harvard in 2004, she was a career diplomat serving as the Director of the Political and Press Department in the Embassy of China to Singapore and the chief analyst of the Asian Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. Her work covered China's diplomacy with Asian countries and foreign policy analysis focusing on Asian-Pacific political and security issues, multilateralism, and conflict resolution. She was a keynote-speech writer for several Chinese state leaders and author of numerous research papers on diplomacy and international relations.