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SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH - 2026
Chinese Expansionist Philosophy’s Historical Bacground
Kamran Shirinzade 
Abstract. This article examines the historical foundations and contemporary manifestations of ideas commonly associated with Chinese expansionism. It asks how classical concepts such as Tianxia, Confucian moral authority, Legalist state capacity, and tributary relations are reinterpreted in present-day foreign policy. The study applies qualitative historical analysis, comparative political thought, discourse analysis, and a focused case study of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The findings show that classical philosophy does not mechanically determine current policy; rather, selected historical concepts provide a vocabulary through which national rejuvenation, connectivity, hierarchy, sovereignty, and international leadership are framed. Contemporary Chinese influence is multidimensional and operates through infrastructure finance, trade, institutions, technology, diplomacy, and military modernization. The BRI illustrates both the developmental potential and the strategic ambiguity of this approach, particularly in Eurasia and the South Caucasus. Realist, liberal, and constructivist interpretations each explain part of the phenomenon but none is sufficient alone. The article concludes that China’s expanding global role is best understood as an adaptive synthesis of historical narratives and modern state interests, not simply as territorial conquest or entirely benign cooperation.
Keywords: China, expansionist thought, Tianxia, Belt and Road Initiative, geoeconomics, South Caucasus
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