External Humanitarian Aid And National Interest

Foreign aid is an important part of a country’s foreign policy.It is an indispensible partof foreign aid.And it is regarded as one of the most significant fields in internationalrelations.After the Cold War especially in the21stcentury,with the globalizationintensifying and challenges entailing common actions increasing vigorously,theinternational community has made great efforts to humanitarian aid.There are two major theories of humanitarian aid motivation.One is the realistictheory based on national interests and the other is humanistic theory.Along with thechange of China’s environment and national power after the foundation of People’sRepublic of China,China’s national interests varies a lot.Humanitarian aid for foreigncountries in every different period served the national interests of China.According todifferent national interests of China,China’s humanitarian aid for foreign countries can bedivided into three stages:1950-1978,the initial developmental stage;1979-2000,thephasing-in adjustive development stage;after2000,the all-around development stage.At present,China attaches great importance to humanitarian aid based on hercomprehensive national power and international influence.Humanitarian aid has played amore and more important role in China’s foreign aid and China’s diplomacy.