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Over the last twenty years, the People's Republic of China has exhibited behaviour consistent with that of a great power attempting to elevate itself to a global power, with monumental effects on the evolving international order. Unlike rising global powers of the past, China faces two powerful constraints, which have prevented the country from taking the traditional paths of territorial expansion and political-economic domination in order to develop as a global power. The first obstacle has been the presence of the United States, which became the world's only superpower after the cold war. The second is the existence of nuclear weapons, which has made direct great-power conflict unacceptably costly. Faced with these barriers, China has chosen a more distinctive path to greater power acquisition via a post-cold war international system containing more institutions than ever before. The main argument of this thesis is that China's opening to international institutions has developed into a key component, more than that of previous rising global powers, in that country's multilateral approach to foreign policy and to the advancement of state power. This method of power acquisition is in opposition to traditional realist theories, which have not recognised such cooperation as being crucial to global power development. / Within the analyses of this thesis, four case studies of international institutions with which China aligned itself will be assessed using six "goods" which Beijing has been determined to pursue through these institutions (state security, regime security, information acquisition, economic benefits, an improved position vis-a-vis other great powers, and prestige). Two cases are primarily economic institutions, the World Trade Organisation and two "exclusive economic regimes", the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) and the newer, more informal "ASEAN-plus-three" (AP3) grouping. The other two cases, primarily strategic organisations, are the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the embryonic Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). These case studies illustrate the growing importance which China has placed on international institutions as a means of developing a more effective foreign policy, while simultaneously protecting valuable domestic interests, all in the name of reaching for global power status.

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University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration