Deng Xiaoping Following Tiananmen, Deng, speaking on how to handle the ongoing sanctions from the West and possible future attacks, frequently used the phrases: "冷静観察、穏住陣脚、沈着応付" ("observe calmly, secure our position, respond with composure") and "冷静観察、穏住陣脚、沈着応付、有所作為" ("observe calmly, secure our position, respond with composure, and do what needs to be done"). Despite political pressure from the United States, Deng maintained the stance that China and the U.S. should "enhance mutual trust, reduce troubles, develop cooperation, and avoid confrontation". Takahara and Maeda identify this conciliatory policy as the "hide your strength, bide your time" strategy. Internationally, "hide your strength, bide your time" was sometimes perceived as a blueprint for China to quietly build up its national power. However, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin were, in fact, advocating a
grand strategy of not standing out in the international community. In the mid-2000s, under
Jiang Zemin, there was a resurgence of assertive diplomacy through the "Peaceful Rise" doctrine, which advocated for foreign policy whose proactiveness was commensurate with China's status as a major power. However, this trend was reversed under the
Hu Jintao administration in the late 2000s, with a renewed emphasis on peaceful development and cooperative diplomacy, referred to as the "Harmonious Diplomacy" line. This development, particularly in relation to foreign affairs and especially Sino-Japanese relations, has correlated with the rise of xenophobic nationalism, often triggered by external crises. At the beginning of his tenure as
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Hu promoted a cooperative foreign policy. At the 10th Diplomatic Envoy Conference in 2004, he called for the establishment of the "Four Environments": an international environment of peace and stability, a surrounding environment of good neighborliness and friendship, an environment of cooperative equality and mutual benefit, and an environment of friendly public opinion. Shindou's later work emphasizes the dynamics between Deng Xiaoping's "hide your strength, bide your time" strategy and the bureaucratic political model of China, Since the
Chinese Communist Revolution, the
Red Army had implemented a unique form of civilian control, in which both political commissars and commanders appointed by the
Chinese Communist Party held shared command over the troops. After the founding of the People's Republic, however, the military became composed entirely of professional soldiers, who shared common interests in areas such as salaries and equipment. From the outset, Xi appealed to nationalism by promoting the concept of the "
great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", embedding the principle of a "strong military" into the Communist Party's constitution, and investing in military expansion, making China the world's second-largest military spender after the U.S. Xi also chaired the
Central Military-Civil Fusion Development Committee, which he established as a strategy for national prosperity and military strength, modeled on the U.S.
military-industrial complex, aimed at enhancing China's defense industry. This has led to assessments that Xi overturned the "hide your strength, bide your time" policy. == Contemporary debate ==