OCAS 3005 - China's Foreign Policy

***UPDATED for 2025/26***

How has China’s rise reshaped the world—and what comes next? This course offers a dynamic introduction to Chinese foreign policy, blending historical context with real-time analysis of current events. Students will trace China’s evolving relations with major powers, regions, and global institutions, and evaluate how Beijing’s choices affect security, prosperity, technology, and governance worldwide.

What you’ll explore:

The ideas behind policy: how history, traditional political philosophy, geography, and domestic politics shape China’s worldview and strategy.

Decision-making in practice: how China’s Party-state system formulates foreign policy, with a close look at Xi Jinping–era priorities and institutions.

Tools of influence: trade and investment, infrastructure and connectivity, standards-setting, diplomacy, media, education, and digital governance.

China’s evolving ties with key regions and powers: Southeast Asia (ASEAN and the South China Sea), South Asia (India–China dynamics), the Middle East (energy, security, and mediation), Europe (trade, tech, and norms), and, of course, the United States (strategic competition and managed interdependence).

Flashpoints and cooperation: maritime disputes, Taiwan, climate and energy, AI and tech competition, global health, migration, and development finance.

China in the world: participation in and redesign of regional and global institutions.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Explain key historical, ideological, and institutional drivers of Chinese foreign policy, citing primary and secondary sources.
• Compare China’s priorities across regions (Southeast Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Europe, United States) and evaluate how they vary by issue area (security, trade/tech, governance).
• Assess China’s capabilities and constraints in achieving stated objectives using evidence-based indicators (economic leverage, military balance, institutional influence, domestic politics).
• Apply analytical methods (case comparison, process-tracing, basic data analysis) to produce policy-relevant insights and forecasts.
• Construct and defend policy options through clear argumentation, acknowledging uncertainties and counterarguments.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

• Oral communication: deliver concise briefings and respond to pointed Q&A.
• Written communication: produce policy memos and evidence-backed analytical reports.
• Negotiation and simulation: plan and execute bargaining strategies in crisis or summit role-plays.
• Cross-cultural competence: tailor messages and strategies to diverse stakeholders and political contexts.
• Problem solving under uncertainty: generate and stress-test scenarios; identify risks, trade-offs, and mitigation measures.
• Data literacy: locate, clean, and interpret basic datasets (trade, investment, sanctions, opinion polls) to support.

Feedback for reflective essays will be provided maximum 3 days after submission, while feedback for the research paper will be provided at the end of the semester.

1°) 1 x 2,000-word group research paper worth 30+18%. The selected topic must be approached from a comparative/case study perspective to make sure that the paper can be graded as follows: 30% of the grade will depend on the evaluation of the case study that you will study and discuss in your paper autonomously. The remaining 18% of the grade will be an average of the grades assigned to the different sections of the paper, including the common parts you will develop with your colleagues (introduction and conclusion).

2°) 5 x 300-word reflective essays, each worth 7% (total 42%). For 5 out 12 weeks, following a planning that will be decided at the beginning of the semester, you will be asked to submit reflective essay.

Your reflective essays should not provide summaries of the readings. The purpose of this assignment is to develop students' reading skills and abilities to critically engage ideas and construct persuasive arguments.

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Online learning activities: 1 hour per week / 12 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 4 hours a week / 48 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 3 hours a week / 36 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 2,5 hours a week / 30 hours a semester