China's Core Interests and Dilemma in Foreign Policy Practice

Although the term “China's core interests” appeared in Chinese media in the early 2000s, the notion of China's core interests has recently become the principle of Chinese foreign policy as part of the China Dream under the Xi Jinping administration. Guided by the principle of China's core interests, has China achieved expected results of the foreign policy practice? The recent development of China's relations with the international society, especially with the West, does not support a positive answer. Questions raised here are: If China continues to stick with the principle of China's core interests, how does China play it out in dealing with international relations? Is it necessary for China to reinterpret its core interests in its foreign policy practice in order to better serve the win–win cooperation within the liberal international order? This paper will address these questions by examining the relationship between the notion of China's core interests and its foreign policy practice, and argue that China could worsen its foreign relations if it were to overemphasize the principle of China's core interests in foreign policy practice. China should revisit the notion of its core interests and modify it in order to handle serious challenges from the international society.