On the way to an Asian Greater China? New Chinese foreign policy in Pacific area between nationalism and economic issues

The change in Chinese CPC leadership in 2012 and the III Plenum in 2013 marked a shift away from the past idea of foreign policy that was somehow characterized by a sense of shyness in order to take the path of the great power diplomacy with Chinese features. According to this point of view, China declares to be ready to act a role of supremacy in Asia from both an economic and a political point of view. Starting from this assumption, this paper discusses the meaning of this change towards a so-called Chinese Renaissance that deeply refers to an idea of unity derived from a presumed Asian common past marked by the domination of the Chinese Empire and a geographical division of space signed by a centre and its peripheries, the so-called tributary states. Through the analysis of visual media, i.e. maps and video recordings, and focusing the attention to inland nationalism and economy as the sources of legitimacy, this paper presents an overview of the new Chinese foreign policy in South-East Asia, with the possible transformation of this area into a platform for the Greater China geoolitical mechanisms.