Treaties of the People's Republic of China: A Quantitative Analysis

here are many indices of a state's actions on the international scene. Among them are trade figures, political literature, both official and unofficial, foreign aid data and international agreements. This paper will analyze the latter as a specific indicator of Chinese Communist policies, attitudes and actions in the international system. It hardly need be said that any single indicator of a state's interactions with other states cannot serve as a total representation of that nation state's proclivity to specific kinds of actions and reactions. What can be said, however, is that la consolidation of in-depth studies of the various indices of international behavior can serve to formulate a clear analysis of any nation state's behavior vis-a-vis other nation states.' What is attempted in this study of the treaty relations of the People's Republic of 'China is to add to the existing body of knowledge still another viewpoint from which that nation state may be examined and compared in the international system. Other quantitative data compiled on China will be used in order to show that the treaty relations of China, like those of any other country in the world, are a meaningful addition to the realm of comparative information. Since information of this nature gains its full value from a comparison with the same type of information about other countries, this paper will compare and contrast 'China's treaty patterns with other individual nations, blocs, and the world as a whole.