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As an expression of China's eagerness to modernize its foreign policy in line with the modified global conditions at the start of the 21st century, a new official Chinese foreign-policy doctrine has emerged -- the theory of "peaceful rise". After the top echelon of the Chinese leadership have adopted this doctrine, now it is being peddled to the international public. The fundamental tenet of the theory of "peaceful rise" is that a vigorous long-term growth of Chinese economy and China's affirmation in the arena of international relations does not represent a regional or global threat; on the contrary, China's rise may be good for its neighbours (by bringing economic opportunity and strengthening their security) and the global community in general. After the successful resolution in the 1990s of the border disputes with Russia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, and the settlement of the issue of the land border with Vietnam, China has directed its efforts to the resolution of the remaining territorial disputes with Japan and India. China joined the ASEAN in October 2003, a sign of the continued improvement of China's relations with the countries in this region. China has also been very keen on improving its -- primarily economic -- relations with Russia and Japan which will bring economic benefits to all the parties. It is interesting that most China's neighbours, unlike the countries of the EU and the US, have a trade surplus with China. China's most important bilateral relation, that with the US, has been marked with the strategic rapprochement of those two great powers after "September 11" concerning the fight against international terrorism, but is nevertheless still burdened with an array of troublesome issues: Taiwan, criticisms of China due to its violation of human rights and intellectual property, the huge American trade deficit with China. The main challenges to the process of China's "peaceful rise" are the following: the disbalance of its economic growth, particularly its overdependence on exports, the deteriorated relationships with Taiwan after President Chen Shui-bian, a strong advocate of Taiwan's independence, won the 2000 elections. The author concludes that the Chinese foreign-policy doctrine of "peaceful rise" is a welcome effort to allay the fears that have been fueled by China's prominence and to explain its new role in international relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author looks into the post-"September 11" Chinese foreign policy. It has had three areas of special importance. The top priority are China's relationships with the USA. The second important area of foreign policy are its relationships with the neighbouring countries, and the third concerns China's cooperation and solidarity with the developing countries. The author is of the opinion that the Chinese foreign policy has entered its mature stage i.e. it is relatively predictable. The relationships between China and Croatia have been traditionally good and partly inherited from the former SFRY. These relationships are going to evolve in accordance with the degree of Croatia's integration into the EU or with EU's policy regarding China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]