Working Paper（22-004E）The Rise of the Taoguang Yanghui in Chinese Diplomacy : A Slogan to Restrain Domestic Hardliners that Emerged in the mid-1990s

This article aims to explore the background of the rise of Taoguang Yanghui (TGYH), which is a well-known key phrase of China’s diplomatic guidelines after the Cold War. This study argues that from the mid-1990s onward (and in 1996, in particular), both the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Zheng Bijian began to emphasize the TGYH policy in order to restrain domestic hardliners in China such as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Chinese leaders have been cautious about mentioning TGYH because of the risk of invoking criticism. Furthermore, it is conceivable that TGYH has not been an official policy that directs Chinese diplomacy in the post-Cold War era.