Research On The Issue Of Territory Dispute Between China & Her Contiguous Countries (1949-2007)

Territory dispute has been one of the primary causes of wars and conflicts. From the earliest colonial conquest to the imperialists'territory encroachment, to the rise of world-wide national independence, territory disputes always result in border conflicts. Consequently it has become a top agenda for the international society. With the most continental neighboring countries in the world, China possesses a complicated strategic position. Although China has officially solved territory issues with 12 neighboring countries so far, there still exist disputed territories along her 22 thousand kilometers'continental borderline. Whether or not these disputes can be smoothly resolved, will directly connect with China's peace and development, for they are easy to result in other countries'hostility and aversion towards China's rapid growth and even bring new challenge to national psychological state and her diplomatic relations. Since the foundation of PRC, China has settled her border disputes peacefully with most of her neighboring countries through negotiation, however, with the exception of issues with India, former Soviet Union and Vietnam, where peaceful negotiations were taken place by military confrontations.By employing the theory of Power Shift and adopting documentary and empirical research, this dissertation, on the basis of exploring systematically China's border disputes with her continental neighboring countries, makes an empirical analysis on the causes of her two completely different attitudes---Soft and Strong, in dealing with border disputes. Meanwhile, this dissertation, by a comparative approach, analyzes the main competitive explaining variables that affect China's attitude. The kernel viewpoints this dissertation puts forth are:What diplomatic policies are adopted by her neighboring country directly affects China's attitudes—soft or strong , in dealing with her border disputes, which means there is a high correlation between China's attitude in solving border disputes and her neighboring country's diplomatic polices. In case her neighboring country is an"expanding country", which means he adheres to expansive policy, China tends to take a strong attitude to deal with the border disputes. While the neighboring country is a"status quo country", which means he adopts policies to maintain status quo, China tends to take a soft attitude in solving the border disputes. The present research shows that a strong attitude towards the expansive country may effectively hold back his tendency in expansion, while a soft attitude towards status quo maintaining country may stop his tendency of making military allies with other countries. This fundamental principle of border disputes solving not only meets China's long-term interest, but also corresponds to China's power base, therefore it is considered as a wise choice in managing China's neighboring geo-political strategy. This research is helpful to understand how power shift affects national policy and action, and meanwhile provides a new perspective for a comprehensive command of China's diplomacy and safety policy.