Miloš Šolaja, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of
Banja Luka, gave an online lecture on Monday, 11 May 2020, on Contemporary Foreign
Policy of China, organised by the Confucius Institute of the University of Banja Luka. This is
the second online lecture the Confucius Institute organised for students and the general public.
In his one-hour presentation, Professor Šolaja presented the key information that defines the
contemporary Chinese policy, with a detailed reference to the Chinese tradition, history and
philosophical thoughts based on the teachings of Confucius. He pointed out that China's
foreign policy is built on a series of policies that serve it in achieving key political goals.
As highlighted in his presentation, everything started during the 1970s, after the death of Mao
Zedong and the beginning of the Deng Xiaoping initiative, when a new time called Reform
and Opening began. Since that period, China has been committed to internal development
and opening to the West, and today is a technologically advanced society living on IT
platforms, with strong professional and technically advanced national defence, being
attractive to investors, but also investing in other countries, especially in developing countries.
It has also a key role in the field of security, as it actively participates in resolving all global
crises in North Korea, Iran, Sudan, Syria as well as different pandemics, including the current
COVID-19 pandemic.
In his presentation, Professor Šolaja made special reference to the economic development in
the last 40 years thanks to the "Reform and Opening" policy, which has resulted in the fact that about 900 million Chinese are no longer poor, but are now categorised as the middle class, with only 3.5 percent of the population below the poverty line. He pointed out that China's economic rise came much earlier than expected, and that the main reason for that was its decision to accept globalisation.
Šolaja emphasizes that the Chinese foreign policy is based on peace, development and respect for the integrity and sovereignty of other countries on the principles of peaceful coexistence, in which it wants to improve its global identity and perception of itself.
China's new political thought is based on Confucian openness, promoting traditional values
within a harmonious world, which helps many countries through economic, financial,
educational, health and cultural cooperation.
Miloš Šolaja is a professor of international relations, international security and foreign policy
at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Banja Luka. He has participated in several
international conferences, congresses and other events. He has published about 100 papers in
these fields in international and domestic journals and four publications, some of which have
been included in international libraries.
The lecture is available on the link:
Comentarios