IB History Foreign Policy Successes and Failures Key Definitions

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), announced by Xi Jinping in 2013, is a global infrastructure investment programme through which China funds and builds roads, railways, ports, pipelines, and power plants across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. Named after the historical Silk Road, the BRI involves loans, equity investments, and construction contracts. Critics argue it creates "debt trap diplomacy," loading borrowing countries with debt that China can leverage for strategic concessions. Supporters argue it fills a genuine infrastructure gap in developing countries.

A trade policy designation that entitles a country to the same favorable trade terms, including tariff rates, quotas, and market access, as the most-favored trading partner. The US granted China MFN status annually from 1980, subject to congressional review. The renewal process became contentious after Tiananmen (1989), as Congress debated linking MFN to human rights improvements. China's MFN status was made permanent in 2000, paving the way for WTO accession in 2001.

A demarcation line used by China to claim sovereignty over approximately 90% of the South China Sea, including waters and islands also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. The line was inherited from a 1947 Republic of China map and has no agreed basis in international law. In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal under UNCLOS ruled that China's historical claims within the Nine-Dash Line had no legal basis, a ruling China rejected.

A foreign policy concept articulated by Chinese leaders from the early 2000s, asserting that China's growing power would not threaten international stability or involve military expansion. Promoted by Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, the concept was designed to reassure China's neighbours and the US about China's intentions as its economy and military grew rapidly. By the Xi Jinping era, more assertive Chinese behaviour in the South China Sea and elsewhere led analysts to question whether the "peaceful rise" framework remained operative.

A regional political, economic, and security organisation founded in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, building on the earlier "Shanghai Five" grouping. The SCO focuses on counter-terrorism, border security, and regional stability, and has expanded to include India and Pakistan (2017). It represents China and Russia's primary shared institutional framework for Central Asian security and is often described as an alternative to Western-led international organisations.

A 20-year friendship treaty signed by Jiang Zemin and Vladimir Putin in July 2001, establishing a "strategic partnership" between China and Russia. The treaty expressed shared commitment to a multipolar world order and opposition to US unipolarity, but stopped short of a military alliance. It formalised the post-Cold War rapprochement between two states that had been adversaries during the Sino-Soviet split, and provided a framework for growing military-technical cooperation and energy trade.

The breakdown of relations between China and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 1960s, caused by ideological disagreements, border disputes, and competition for leadership of the communist world.

Overlapping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea involving China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. The disputes concern sovereignty over island chains (including the Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands), rights to exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and freedom of navigation. China has constructed artificial islands on submerged reefs and installed military facilities on them since 2013, significantly altering the balance of military presence in the region.

The establishment of full diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China on 1 January 1979, following the Carter administration's decision to switch recognition from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the PRC. Normalisation ended 30 years of US non-recognition of the PRC government and was a significant achievement of Deng Xiaoping's foreign policy, which prioritised stable relations with the West to support economic reform and modernisation.

A sustained trade conflict initiated by the Trump administration in 2018, imposing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods in response to alleged unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, and technology transfer demands. China retaliated with counter-tariffs on US goods. The trade war reflected broader strategic competition between the two economies and concerns about China's industrial policy, particularly Made in China 2025. A partial "Phase One" deal was signed in January 2020 but underlying tensions remained unresolved.