During the Beiyang period, Chinese foreign policy

Author: Jin Guangyao, Wang Jianlang (editors)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: The 26 papers in this collection reflect the new insights of scholars on the foreign policy of China during the Beiyang period. Examining the foreign policy of the Beiyang period within the broader historical context of modern Chinese foreign relations, revealing its true nature, and providing a realistic evaluation are key characteristics of the conference papers. For example, some scholars studied China's decision to participate in the Second World War, affirming the active role played by the Beijing government. Others discussed China's relationship with the Versailles-Washington System, emphasizing the Beijing government's efforts to promote internationalization and enhance China's global standing. Another feature of the conference papers is that they do not limit the foreign policy of the Beiyang period solely to the government and diplomatic negotiations, but instead broaden the perspective to discuss foreign relations and related issues in a wider context. National diplomacy, the relationship between public opinion and foreign policy, and the interaction between domestic factional politics and foreign policy are all topics that have been less explored in previous research. Several papers at this conference delve into these subjects in greater depth. Another feature of the conference papers is the use of first-hand archival materials for case studies. These case studies enrich and deepen our understanding of the foreign policy of China during the Beiyang period. The aforementioned characteristics clearly demonstrate the new trends in the study of the foreign policy of the Beiyang period in Chinese historiography.