Even though China's economic statecraft is now often in the global spotlight, few scholars have addressed important historical questions about this statecraft. What are the origins of China's foreign aid program? What lessons has China learned from facing economic sanctions? How have Chinese leaders dangled the lure of market access for diplomatic leverage? Has China's economic statecraft actually succeeded—and if so, when and how? In this tour de force survey of China's economic statecraft throughout the Cold War, Shu Guang Zhang provides compelling answers to these crucial questions.
One of Zhang's most important contributions is to remind us of the impact of the U.S.-led embargo on China's early Cold War strategy. Following the onset of the Korean War (1950–1953), the People's Republic of China (PRC) faced a withering array of U.S. economic sanctions designed to isolate and cripple the PRC economy. As Zhang rightly asserts, China's pragmatic approach to economic...