First published in 1978, China's Role in World Affairs analyses China’s foreign policy within a framework suggested by the conceptualisation of the outside world and China’s place within it, as articulated and acted upon by China’s leaders.

Divided into two parts, the book discusses China’s role as an ally of the Soviet Union and as an independent socialist system, following the Sino-Soviet rupture. The main operational concepts and themes of China’s foreign policy are also traced. Of particular interest is the conflict between those leaders in the early 1960s who still believed that China should be linked with the Soviet Union, and those who, like Mao, thought of China’s role as an independent socialist country leading an internationalist united front against the superpowers.

Examination is made of the origin and place of the Third World states in China’s global perspectives. This is the first book to trace the development of the Chinese theory of the three worlds and to show its importance for the Chinese conception of a new world order.