China and The Third World

This study provides a general framework to analyze People's Republic of China's foreign policy towards the developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Here, rather then providing a chronological assessment, my aim is to point out the continuities and changes in China's Third World policy in the period 1949-2009. During the Maoist decades (1949-1976) ideology has been the determining factor in shaping the Chinese perspective towards the Third World. By contrast, subsequent to the opening-up reforms in the late 1970's China's relationship with the developing countries has evolved into a complex pattern shaped by economic pragmatism. Despite this fundamental change, current PRC regime still refers to her "non-Western" identity, "semicolonial" past, as well as her previous aid and assistance to these countries, in an attempt to increase its influence in these regions.