China: A responsible great power

If China can maintain the trend of its economic development, by the middle of the twenty-first century China will be among the great powers in the world. Whether China can become a responsible great power or not will depend on both internal and external factors. During recent years, China has been making big progress in integrating itself into international economic and political mechanisms. This paper argues that the more closely China integrates itself into international economic and political mechanisms, the more willing it will be to play a responsible role in the international community. It also argues that there are some conditions necessary to make China a responsible great power. In particular, China needs to be confident about the international security environment and international mechanisms; other countries should help China to participate in international mechanisms; the strategic balance in the Asia‐Pacific region should be established and maintained; and the Taiwan issue should be dealt with properly.