Timeless stratagem: Understanding Chinese strategic behavior

Abstract This article establishes a helpful guide to evaluate and understand China’s strategic policies. It asserts that the current Chinese approaches to foreign and strategic engagements can be explained by probing into the ancient pre-Confucian texts, the literary traditions, the Seven Military Classics, the board game wei qi, and the fundamental cultural concepts of wu-wei, tao, and guanxi. These elements manifest the Chinese way of thinking, and thus, provide a sensible guide to assess Chinese foreign and strategic engagements. The proposition has a broad ramification on how the United States perceives and evaluates China.