Mapping China’s Strategic Space

The territorial claims of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), both on land and in the maritime domain, including over Taiwan, are well known and documented. But how does the leadership conceive of the space beyond China’s immediate borders? Do Chinese elites envision a limited, regional, or a global expansion? Are they thinking in terms of areas over which they need to exert direct physical control as compared to spheres of influence? What is the significance of the “strategic new frontiers” including space, deep sea and polar regions?

Within China, discussions about the country’s expansion, initiated before the collapse of the Soviet Union, are still ongoing. They are based on the belief that China naturally needs to strive for strategic space – an expanded geographic sphere of interest and influence—as its power grows. What does Beijing’s mental map of China’s expansion look like? Did it evolve over time and why? What are the perceived constraints on this expansion? What does this mental map tell us about the future direction in which China’s foreign policy and grand strategy could be headed?

To unpack China’s conception of its “strategic space” and its implications in the context of great-power competition, join the NBR for a public event from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. on September 16, 2024. This event, drawing on an upcoming special report titled “Mapping China’s Strategic Space,” will feature leading experts on China’s foreign and security policy and survey their views on Beijing’s expansionism by considering geopolitical underpinnings and rationales, geographic and functional delineations, and the country’s geostrategic evolution since the end of the Cold War.

Featured Speakers

Jacqueline Deal
Long Term Strategy Group

Aaron Friedberg
Princeton University

April Herlevi
Center for Naval Analyses

Nadège Rolland
The National Bureau of Asian Research

Alison Szalwinski
The National Bureau of Asian Research

Additional speakers to be confirmed.