Author: Muhammad, Anas

Annotation: This article examines the People's Republic of China's (PRC) strategic partnership diplomacy, a central instrument of Chinese foreign policy since the 1990s. Because the concept of "strategic partnership" still lacks an internationally agreed definition, the study treats this conceptual ambiguity as its central problem, asking what conceptual foundations, institutional tools, and foreign-policy principles underlie China's strategic partnership diplomacy, and how this diplomacy relates to China's declared "core interests." Drawing on Chinese official statements and the international relations literature, the article traces the evolution of the concept from "comprehensive cooperation" toward "strategic partnership", analyzes the institutional mechanisms China has developed - joint committees, strategic dialogues, hotlines, and public-diplomacy programmes - and examines the China-Russia relationship as the most institutionalised case. The study further situates strategic partnership diplomacy within the Belt and Road Initiative and reviews critical debates about whether these instruments represent a revisionist challenge to the existing international order or a flexible, non-binding form of cooperation. The article concludes that strategic partnership diplomacy functions both as a rhetorical device and as an institutionalised foreign-policy practice closely tied to China's concerns over sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.

Keywords: China, strategic partnership, foreign policy, Belt and Road Initiative, diplomacy.

Pages in journal: 120 - 127