Development of Strategic Foreign Policy Messages of the People’s Republic of China and the Transformation of Collaborative Formats: The Case Study of the “17 + 1” Cooperation Format. Summary of the Doctoral Thesis
Authors:   ,   Rīga Stradiņš University, Daugulis Mārtiņš 
Published: November 2022

The dissertation “Development of strategic foreign policy messages of the People’s Republic of China and the transformation of collaborative formats: the case study of the “17 + 1” cooperation format” focuses on the link between strategic foreign policy messages and the transforming dynamics of collaborative formats and development potential. The work analyzes the strategic foreign policy discourse set of Hu Jintao’s and Xi Jinping’s Chinese dream, looking at interdiscourse of its internal dynamics and impact on the formation of collaborative formats. The aim of the dissertation is to evaluate the interdiscoursive causality of the strategic messages of the PRC foreign policy with the dynamics of the internal environment and to identify the correlation with the developmet of cooperation formats. The internal environment in the context of work is understood as the discourse that shapes the PRC’s foreign policy, the political logic that influences it, agents and their structures. In order to achieve the goal of the work, three research questions are raised. 1. How to create an appropriate theoretical methodological model to analyze the conditions of internal dynamics of foreign policy strategic messages and their interaction with cooperation formats as already institutionalized foreign policy platforms? 2. What is the interdiscoursive causality to be identified in the strategic messages of the PRC’s foreign policy during the two presidencies? 3. What correlation can be identified between the strategic messages of the PRC’s foreign policy and the formats of international cooperation by conducting a case study of the PRC’s cooperation format with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe or the “17 + 1” cooperation format? In order to answer particular research question, the author carries out a mapping of agents of Chinese foreign political discourse and identifies the Chinese dream narratives addressed to the international system. From an epistemological point of view, the author chooses the theory of the constructivism of international relations, more specifically in the interpretation of social constructivism by Nicolas Onuf. This approach is inextricably linked to the research method – cognitive discourse analysis. The author synthesises a theory and method using a new theory-method analysis model for China’s analysis in the context of international relations, offering to explain the elements of cognitive discourse analysis with a vision of social constructivism. The promotion work employs the latest generation of cognitive discourse analysis authors – Thora Tenbrink, Christopher Hart, Gitte Kristiansen, René Dirven, Martin Müller, Luisa Godinho, etc., and more classical texts of Teun Adrian van Dijk, etc. The promotion work concludes that the strategic messages of the foreign policy of the PRC are directly related to the development and dynamics of the format “17 + 1”, while serving as a strategy-enabling, replenishing and buffer zone for the verification of cooperation partners. The work also identifies “17 + 1” challenges for sustainable cooperation and provides forecasts for further development of the format as well as for further development of the Chinese dream itself.