‘Crossing the river by touching the stones’: China's leadership strategy in Eurasia

P. 61–84.

Krivokhizh S., Soboleva E.

This chapter contributes to the literature on international leadership and Chinese foreign policy by focusing on China’s growing engagement in Eurasia. It traces how China attracts followers in the region and explores changes in its leadership strategy over time and across different cooperation spheres by focusing on what the leader does: what institutions Beijing establishes to provide a framework for cooperation, what values it promotes, what material rewards it offers and how it distributes them among followers. The chapter demonstrates that China is a selective and flexible leader that does not attach symbolic value to Eurasia as a region and continuously adjusts its strategy to changes in the regional competitive environment and in its own foreign policy interests. The absence of conditionality and preference for soft institutionalism have allowed China to build up its presence in the region without provoking Russia or making small states choose sides in the major powers’ competition. Another consequence of such an approach is the failure to establish a strong group identity of ‘China followers’ in Eurasia. Moreover, initially reluctant to get involved in domestic affairs and regional conflicts, China inevitably has been drawn into them as its stakes in the region rise.

Keywords: Eurasia, China's foreign policy, Belt and Road (BRI), international leadership

In book

Regional Leadership in Post-Soviet Eurasia: The Strategies of Russia, China, and the European Union

L.: Routledge, 2023.