New leaders to face foreign-policy issues (2)

By Zhang Chunyan in London, Liu Jia in Brussels and Pu Zhendong in Beijing (China Daily)

10:27, March 02, 2013

It will see the election of a chairperson, vice-chairpersons, secretary-general and members of the 12th NPC Standing Committee, as well as the country's president and vice-president.

The NPC will also choose the premier and vice-premiers of the State Council, or China's cabinet, as well as State councilors, ministers for government departments, ministers in charge of commissions of the State Council, the governor of the People's Bank of China, an auditor-general, as well as the State Council's secretary-general.

Other foreign "China hands" agreed with Fouquet's opinion.

Nadine Godehardt, an associate at the Asia division of the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said: "China needs to engage even more with her immediate neighborhood.

"The Chinese leadership should clearly articulate the goals and, more importantly, the limits of China's foreign policy. Hence, clear answers to questions like what are China's core interests and what is absolutely not negotiable for the Chinese leadership will actually improve China's image in the region and in the US," Godehardt said.

Otherwise, Godehardt added, China's neighbors will align themselves closer to the US and nourish US President Barack Obama's new foreign policy direction, the so-called pivot to Asia.

The 18th Party Congress reaffirmed China's commitment to peaceful development, one of the most important guidelines for the country's foreign policy.

Li Haidong, a professor from the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, said harnessing the changing world situation, driven by the US strategy of its pivot to Asia, will be a major challenge for the new Chinese leadership.

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