The notion of harmony has been extensively emphasized by the Chinese government
in the 2011 White Paper called China’s Peaceful Development. This policy document
is a key document as it provides the direction for the Chinese government’s
interaction with other countries. It is widely distributed to Chinese embassies around
the world3
and is available on the Internet and on Xinhua News Agency, which is the
central news agency in China. The researcher obtained this document from the
website of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok. A detailed analysis of this policy
document demonstrates that harmony is a recurring theme in the document. The
policy of China’s Peaceful Development aims to pursue international peaceful
environment while creating harmony domestically. It establishes a firm position for
China’s new foreign policy in creating a ‘harmonious world’ (Chinese Information
Office of State Council 2011). The policy elaborates the rationale behind promoting
this idea of building harmony