Speaker: Antonina Łuszczykiewicz, Jagiellonian University
The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence – which comprise mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful co-existence – were originally codified in the China-India agreement signed in 1954. Apart from having been promoted as the fundament of China-India relations, they were included in the Chinese Constitution of 1982, and became a basis of many agreements signed both by China and India with other countries, thus expanding far beyond a strictly Chinese-Indian context. This paper focuses on the evolution of China-India relations through the prism of the Five Principles. Analyzing the history of China-India relations, with the main stress put on the border dispute, the author intends to inquire, what kind of role the Five Principles have played so far, and what kind of potential they might still have. Exploring both the narrative, image-building dimension, as well as the history of the Five Principles’ actual implementation, the author deliberates, whether these rules, in their original, or modified form, might play an important role in China’s foreign policy in the 21st century, particularly in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative.