Li Xing

Opinion | China, faced with a hostile West, should make the Global South a foreign policy priority

In the early 1970s, Mao’s ‘three worlds’ theory guided China’s strategic alignment with the political struggles of third world nations

As the country’s economy and influence grew, it focused on establishing ‘major power’ relationships with the West. But Beijing must now reorient itself

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Li Xing

Published: 5:30am, 28 Dec 2023Updated: 6:16am, 28 Dec 2023

In February 1974, amid the Cold War, Chinese leader Mao Zedong revealed his “three worlds” theory as part of China’s anti-hegemony diplomatic strategy.

Mao’s theory, since expanded by others, is that the first world comprised the US and Soviet Union, while the second world encompassed middle Western powers, including Japan, that were US allies – though they could also act as independent political forces on certain international issues.

That left the vast majority of developing countries and those in the non-aligned movement in the third world category. These nations were seen as the most reliable revolutionary force, capable of forming a united front against the superpowers.

Mao’s theory guided China to leverage global political mobility and manoeuvrability by aligning itself strategically with the political struggle of the third world nations. Faced with the threat of exclusion from a US-led world economy, China had to seek alternative power sources for legitimacy and survival.

Perceiving itself as the leader of third-world revolutionary movements, China firmly supported third world countries in their struggles for independence and against hegemonism, and established relations with some second world countries, helping them resist interference and control by the superpowers.

As the economic reforms of the late 1970s took off, China’s foreign policy started to shift from “politics in command” to “economics in command”. This transition reflected the government’s dedication to economic development and the well-being of Chinese people while also elevating the relationship with the US-led West as China’s foreign policy priority.