China-US Relations Between 2003-2013 in the Context of the Effect of Confucian Philosophy to Foreign Policy

China became the second largest economy via its reforms and opening up to the outside world. Throughout the process of being a great power, it has been under the influence of its culture and traditions. One of the most influential creeds of the Chinese civilization has been Confucian philosophy. On the other hand, the pace of China‟s rise fuelled anxieties, particularly, in the West. China, in order to rebuff Western threat perceptions, underlined pro-status quo and peaceful emphases of Confucian philosophy as a basis of its foreign policy. The aim of this article is to analyse the role and the effect of Confucian philosophy with a particular focus on Tianxia on the Chinese foreign policy and its relations with the US during the Presidency of Hu Jintao, from 2003 to 2013. To this end, in addition to the Sino-American diplomatic and economic relations, disputed issues were also taken into consideration.