PRC foreign policy responsiveness to domestic ethical sentiment: Understanding the link between ethics and regime legitimacy (China)

Although most nations provide moral justification for their foreign policies, the prominence of ethical rationalizations in the People's Republic of China's (P.R.C.) foreign policy is striking. Moreover, this moralizing tone has not been limited to one leader, but has been a consistent characteristic throughout P.R.C. foreign policy. What purpose do these moral pronouncements serve?; This study was premised upon the belief that a link exists between P.R.C. ethical posturing in the international arena and its claim on domestic legitimacy. Thus, the study sought to examine P.R.C. regime responsiveness to domestic, rather than international, ethical culture by surveying popular sentiment towards ethics and Chinese foreign policy. Survey findings revealed that while foreign policy ranked low on the average Chinese's list of priorities, most were deeply concerned with China's international reputation. Most also felt that China should honor its international obligations to the best of its abilities in order to maintain this standing.; This study hypothesizes that P.R.C. regimes have been generally attentive to this popular ethical sentiment because they realize its importance in sustaining regime legitimacy. This attentiveness is demonstrated by the fact that P.R.C. regimes have consistently relied upon a number of popularly accepted ethical themes to shape China's identity in the international arena. Moral pronouncements in P.R.C. foreign policy play to popular expectations regarding China's international reputation; a regime response conditioned by its need for domestic legitimacy. The study concludes by demonstrating, in its case study chapters, how supplementing a traditional realist explanatory paradigm with the insights gleaned from acknowledging the centrality of P.R.C. ethical defenses to domestic legitimacy, will lead to a clearer understanding of P.R.C. foreign policy behavior.