A Change in the Worker’s Party: Evolution of The People’s Republic of China’s Rhetoric in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Having come to power following decades of western imperialist intrusion, dynastical degradation, and a brutal civil war, the People’s Republic of China touted its connection to Communism and its desire to assist in worldwide efforts to remove imperialism and colonialism. China’s government worked on its international image even when large parts of the western world had yet to recognize its legitimacy, through acts such as participating in the 1955 Bandung Conference and supporting anticolonial efforts on several continents, including the Black Power movements of mid-century United States. Using military, diplomatic, and economic means, the Chinese Communist Party transformed its approach to international relations over time, especially after the international recognition of the People’s Republic of China and its further entrance onto the world stage as China grew into an economic powerhouse. Its alliances and friendships with other nations and with non-state movements transformed alongside its approaches, causing their circle of acquaintances to look very different from the foundation of the country to its point of international recognition. This paper will explore the evolution of China’s international relations in terms of their message of anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism. Both were tenets of the Chinese Communist Party’s ideology, and while they have remained a central part of its messaging, their relative importance has ebbed and flowed over the years.