Author: XIAOXIONG YI.

China is now in the process of transforming itself from a weakling into one of the strong. The view in Beijing, however, is that China still has a considerable distance to travel before it gets there. As a result, the Chinese leadership's goal, at least for now, is to pursue economic development. A foreign policy of "heping fazhan (peaceful development)" has therefore been dovetailed with this goal. Another important task in China's new foreign policy is to accentuate China's role as a rising power. In this sense, China's new "peaceful development" policy is a reflection of Beijing's willingness to learn to behave like a great power. The article provides a detailed examination and assessment of the "heping fazhan" policy under China's fourth generation leadership and suggests that the change-of-guard in the Chinese leadership offers the possibility, though not the certainty, that China may increasingly fit more comfortably into the international system in the years ahead. On the issue of Taiwan, however, this author believes China will not hesitate to act, because Beijing's new leaders now see the "reunification of the motherland" as a necessary, if dangerous, step in the reemergence of China.