China’s Engagement and the Indo-Pacific

Abstract

Neoclassical realist theories of international relations are a useful lens not only to comprehend the rise of China but also to how China ‘sees’ its contenders within and without its regional sphere of influence. While aligning with realist viewpoints, neoclassical realists assert that the ‘scope and ambition of a country’s foreign policy is driven first and foremost by its place in the international system and specifically by its relative material power capabilities’ (Rose 1998: 146). China’s place is to be the ‘Pivot’ of the global order and assert itself as the supreme power, enriched by a glorious past and imbued with material wealth. The dragon has revealed, in tacit and bold terms, its strategies for pan-Asian dominance by ramping up its naval capabilities, expanding territorial claims to areas like the East China Sea and the South China Sea, as well as arm-twisting smaller powers. China’s own multilateralism, its contours unfolding within the domestic to the external realm are symptomatic of the fact that China’s all-pervasive influence extends to the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. This chapter focuses on China’s march into over 130 countries through its Belt and Road projects, even as it hopes to boost pandemic-era global recovery with its own growth, and share with the world, China's ‘development dividends’. This chapter especially focuses on multiple Chinese perspectives towards new architectures of multilateralism dealt with in a unique and comprehensive milieu of the Indo-Pacific region.