Representation of the country’s foreign policy image in the doctrinal documents of the People’s Republic of China (using the example of the white books)

Modern political science pays more and more attention to cultural, value and historical factors influencing the foreign policy course of a particular state. Every state in the world, represented by the highest governing bodies, strives to create a certain perception of itself in the international arena by citizens of other countries, the world political community as a whole. However, it should be understood that any image is formed on the base of an existing image that arises spontaneously due to the associative characteristics of a certain object. This study proposes the research of the representation of the country's foreign policy image in the White Books of the People's Republic of China, the reflection of the main value meanings in this image and, as a consequence, the construction of China's foreign policy image. The paper reveals that the image of the country is based on the features of the perception of the Chinese themselves, which comes from the history of this people, their culture, and value apparatus. Relying on doctrinal documents allows us to illustrate the modern position regarding the image of the country and to see the long-term course of the PRC.