Wenguang Shao’s international career has spanned academia, government, and business. In the 1980s, he taught in Beijing as a university lecturer and worked in New York as a simultaneous interpreter with the U.N. He was a senior diplomat in China’s foreign service in the 1990s before he moved into television media in Hong Kong and Britain, doubling as a consulting senior fellow at I.I.S.S. (2015–2017). He holds an M.A. degree from the Fletcher School and a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford. He does consultancy work in his retirement and divides his time between London, Beijing, and Hong Kong.

• Introduction1 Centrality of China and Foreign Contacts 2 Barbarians at the Gate 3 Opening Pandora’s Box 4 Japan’s China Wars 5 The Turn of the Century 6 The War of Resistance Against Japan 7 A New Power Under Test 8 Security Priorities 9 Boundary Settlements 10 Ups and Downs with the Superpowers 11 Refocusing on Asia 12 Africa and the Middle East 13 Trade Negotiations14 Regional Diplomacy15 Statecraft and Crisis Management Conclusion: China’s Place in the World Bibliography

Wenguang Shao’s international career has spanned academia, government, and business. In the 1980s, he taught in Beijing as a university lecturer and worked in New York as a simultaneous interpreter with the U.N. He was a senior diplomat in China’s foreign service in the 1990s before he moved into television media in Hong Kong and Britain, doubling as a consulting senior fellow at I.I.S.S. (2015–2017). He holds an M.A. degree from the Fletcher School and a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford. He does consultancy work in his retirement and divides his time between London, Beijing, and Hong Kong.

• Introduction1 Centrality of China and Foreign Contacts 2 Barbarians at the Gate 3 Opening Pandora’s Box 4 Japan’s China Wars 5 The Turn of the Century 6 The War of Resistance Against Japan 7 A New Power Under Test 8 Security Priorities 9 Boundary Settlements 10 Ups and Downs with the Superpowers 11 Refocusing on Asia 12 Africa and the Middle East 13 Trade Negotiations14 Regional Diplomacy15 Statecraft and Crisis Management Conclusion: China’s Place in the World Bibliography