wever, since Deng Xiaoping's market reforms in the late 70's and 80's, the CCP has increasingly relied upon economic progress as a source of political legitimacy. Essentially, the Party has promised economic prosperity in return for the undisputed right to rule. Any slowdown in economic growth could potentially lead to political instability. Therefore, all available resources are directed to maintaining a healthy pace of economic growth (Yu p. 186). At this point in development, China does not feel that it has the resources to be involved in remote conflicts that do not substantially affect China (J. Wang p. 80). Since physically closer conflicts tend to affect China more strongly, the bulk of China's foreign policy is directed at her neighbors. For example, China has been politically active in neighboring Korea for two reasons. First, a war on the Korean peninsula has the potential to develop into a broader regional battle that might possibly draw the United States and China in. Such a conflict would obviously be detrimental for economic development and could possibly result in the United States retaining entire control over Korea (Yu p. 188). Therefore, China has pursued a policy of maintaining stability (Roy p. 207) and the current power equilibrium (Yu p. 188). This has been achieved by careful foreign policies and diplomatic maneuvering with both Koreas and the United States. With North Korea, Chinese leaders have frequently visited North Korea (Yu p. 188) and been a source of friendship when the world condemned North Korea for the Rangoon explosion and the 1987 bombing of the South Korean Airline (although China did not defend North Korea's actions). In addition, the Chinese advocate direct US-North Korean dialogue and supports North Korea's call for renegotiation of the Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War (Roy p. 209). Ch...
