The People's Republic of China has intervened in foreign countries on numerous occasions. Traditionally, official stances by China included a non-intervention approach, though as it became an emerging power, it has utilized intervention tactics.
Characteristics
In order to "maintain order" both domestically and abroad, China enacts both policies of non-interventionism and interventionism. Being the world's second largest aid donor, China uses economic policies to intervene internationally, providing developmental aid to over 100 countries, especially to nations sanctioned by Western governments. Combined, the Export-Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank lend more to developing nations than the World Bank. As China has grown, it has positioned itself to change international networks instead of remaining neutral and to protect its interests abroad, especially in the post–Cold War era. Chinese scholars have increasingly advocated for interventionist policies to protect Chinese interests in a globalized international community.
History
Cold War
Korean War
On 20 August 1950, Premier Zhou Enlai informed the United Nations that "Korea is China's neighbor ... The Chinese people cannot but be concerned about a solution of the Korean question". Thus, through neutral-country diplomats, China warned that in safeguarding Chinese national security, they would intervene against the UN Command in Korea. President Truman interpreted the communication as "a bald attempt to blackmail the UN", and dismissed it.
On 1 October 1950, the day that UN troops crossed the 38th parallel, the Soviet ambassador forwarded a telegram from Joseph Stalin to Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai requesting that China send five to six divisions into Korea, and Kim Il Sung sent frantic appeals to Mao for Chinese military intervention. At the same time, Stalin made it clear that the Soviet Armed Forces themselves would not directly intervene.
In a series of emergency meetings that lasted from 2 to 5 October, Chinese leaders debated whether to send Chinese troops into Korea. There was considerable resistance among many leaders, including senior military leaders, to confronting the U.S. in Korea. Mao strongly supported intervention, and Zhou was one of the few Chinese leaders who firmly supported him. After Lin Biao politely refused Mao's offer to command Chinese forces in Korea (citing his upcoming medical treatment), Mao decided that Peng Dehuai would be the commander of the Chinese forces in Korea after Peng agreed to support Mao's position. Mao then asked Peng to speak in favor of intervention to the rest of the Chinese leaders. After Peng made the case that if U.S. troops conquered Korea and reached the Yalu they might cross it and invade China, the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party agreed to intervene in Korea. On 4 August 1950, with a planned invasion of Taiwan aborted due to the heavy U.S. naval presence, Mao reported to the Politburo that he would intervene in Korea when the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Taiwan invasion force was reorganized into the PLA North East Frontier Force. On 8 October 1950, Mao redesignated the PLA North East Frontier Force as the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA).
To enlist Stalin's support, Zhou and a Chinese delegation arrived in Moscow on 10 October, at which point, they flew to Stalin's home at the Black Sea. There, they conferred with the top Soviet leadership, which included Joseph Stalin, as well as Vyacheslav Molotov, Lavrentiy Beria, and Georgi Malenkov. Stalin initially agreed to send military equipment and ammunition, but warned Zhou that the Soviet Air Forces would need two or three months to prepare any operations. In a subsequent meeting, Stalin told Zhou that he would only provide China with equipment on a credit basis, and that the Soviet air force would only operate over Chinese airspace, and only after an undisclosed period of time. Stalin did not agree to send either military equipment or air support until March 1951. Mao did not find Soviet air support especially useful, as the fighting was going to take place on the south side of the Yalu. Soviet shipments of matériel, when they did arrive, were limited to small quantities of trucks, grenades, machine guns, and the like.