People's Republic of China

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of the People's Republic of China

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The People's Republic of China maintains diplomatic relations with most countries in the world, but makes acknowledging its claim to Taiwan and severing any official ties with the Republic of China (ROC) government a prerequisite for diplomatic exchanges. It also actively opposes foreign travels by current and former political officials of Taiwan, such as Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian. The PRC also opposes travel by the Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama due to his leadership of the Government of Tibet in Exile and Li Hongzhi, the spiritual leader of the Falun Gong, who lives in exile in the US.

Related Topics:
Taiwan - Republic of China - Lee Teng-hui - Chen Shui-bian - Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama - Government of Tibet in Exile - Li Hongzhi - Falun Gong

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In 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China as the sole representative for "China" in the United Nations and as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council; it is also considered a founding member although the PRC was not in control at the founding of the UN. (See China and the United Nations)

Related Topics:
United Nations - United Nations Security Council - China and the United Nations

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It was for a time a member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, but now is an observer. Much of the current foreign policy is based on the concept of China's peaceful rise.

Related Topics:
Non-Aligned Movement - China's peaceful rise

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Sino-Japanese relations have been strained several times in the past few decades by Japan's refusal to acknowledge its past war crimes and violations to Chinese satisfaction, most notable among which is the Nanjing Massacre (of which a detailed account is available in the book The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang). Some NGOs and Western governments have criticized China for alleged human rights abuses and its foreign relations with many Western Nations suffered following the Tiananmen Square Incident in 1989. Human rights is a perennial issue that is brought up in the US Congress, but since the Clinton years, human rights has been decoupled from economic negotiations, such as Most Favored Nation status. In May 1999, a B-2 stealth bomber dropped three 2000-pound (900 kg) satellite guided bombs on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo conflict, killing three Chinese citizens who presumably worked for the embassy. However, the United States insisted that the incident was an unintentional mistake and that selection of the building as a target resulted from use of an outdated map produced by the U.S. National Imagery and Mapping Agency (now known as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency), which incorrectly identified the building as an arms procurement agency of the Yugoslav government. The Chinese government was unmoved by the explanation, insisting that the action was deliberate. In April 2001, a U.S. EP-3E Aries II spy plane conducting signals reconnaissance near Hainan Island collided with a Chinese jet fighter monitoring its actions. The fighter crashed and its pilot was killed, while the damaged U.S. plane made an emergency landing on Hainan Island. China and US accounts of the incident differ: US claimed the plane was over international waters, while China claimed the plane was operating in it's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Additionally, each side blamed the other's plane for causing the collision. The spy plane's 24 crewmembers were detained for 12 days before being released and the incident increased tensions between the two countries. Another source of friction was the 1999 Cox report, which alleged that PRC espionage has compromised U.S. nuclear secrets for several decades.

Related Topics:
Sino-Japanese relations - War crimes - Nanjing Massacre - Iris Chang - Tiananmen Square - Most Favored Nation - May 1999 - Stealth bomber - Belgrade - Kosovo conflict - National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency - April 2001 - EP-3E Aries II - Signals reconnaissance - Hainan Island - Exclusive Economic Zone - Cox report

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In addition to Taiwan, China is involved in several other territorial disputes. The PRC makes all of these claims on irredentist grounds, while the opposing claimants tend towards viewing irredentism as a baseless ideology or view the PRC as being motivated by resources, military considerations, or nationalism considerations:

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• With India:
• Aksai Chin, administered by China, claimed by India
• Arunachal Pradesh / South Tibet, administered by India, claimed by China
• Over islands on the East China Sea or South China Sea:
• Paracel Islands, administered by China, claimed by Vietnam and the ROC
• Spratly Islands: the People?s Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Vietnam each claim sovereignty over the entire group, while Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei claim parts of the group.
• Senkaku Islands / Diaoyu Islands, administered by Japan, claimed by the PRC and the ROC

In 2004, Russia agreed to transfer Yinlong Island as well as one half of Heixiazi Island to China, ending a long-standing border dispute between Russia and China. Both islands are found at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, and were until then administered by Russia and claimed by China. The event was meant to foster feelings of reconciliation and cooperation between the two countries by their leaders, but it has also sparked different degrees of discontents on both sides. Russians, especially Cossack farmers of Khabarovsk who would lose their plowlands on the islands, were unhappy about the apparent loss of territory, while news and information regarding the border treaty were censored in Mainland China by PRC government. Some Chinese communities among ROC, oversea Chinese and those few who could manage to bypass the information blockade set by PRC authorities criticized the treaty was in fact an official acknowledgement of the legitimacy of Russian rule over Outer Manchuria, which was ceded by Qing Dynasty to Imperial Russia under a series of Unequal Treaties including Treaty of Aigun in 1858 and the Convention of Peking in 1860, in order to exchange exclusive usage of Russia's rich oil resources. The transfer has been ratified by both the Chinese National People's Congress and the Russian State Duma but has yet to be carried out to date.

Related Topics:
Yinlong Island - Heixiazi Island - Amur - Ussuri - Cossack - Khabarovsk - Mainland China - ROC - Oversea Chinese - Outer Manchuria - Qing Dynasty - Imperial Russia - Unequal Treaties - Treaty of Aigun - Convention of Peking - National People's Congress - State Duma

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Outside official opinion, it is popular for nationalists to make irredentist claims to Mongolia, Tuva and Outer Manchuria, as well as (less commonly) the Ryukyu Islands, Bhutan, Sikkim, Ladakh, the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar, and Central Asia southeast of Lake Balkhash.

Related Topics:
Irredentist - Mongolia - Tuva - Outer Manchuria - Ryukyu Islands - Bhutan - Sikkim - Ladakh - Hukawng Valley - Myanmar - Central Asia - Lake Balkhash

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See also: Political status of Taiwan

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