The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the role of political advisors in China's Foreign Policy

The foundational myth of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is its described role as a black box in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its current leader, Xi Jinping, determine its interests and strategies abroad. This foundational myth is rooted within the same nature of China's political system, being essentially authoritarian and a one-party system. Of course, since 2012 -and as confirmed during the 20th National Congress of the CCP in October 2022 - political moves established by Deng Xiaoping and his colleagues at the end of the 1980s to decentralize power within China’s political system– fixed terms of office limits, a mandatory retirement age, delegating authority from the Party to government agency and holding regular meetings of Party institutions – seemed to vanish in the light of a political change that today appears irreversible. Nevertheless, it appears also evident that other individuals in China, as for instance Yang Jiechi (Director or the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission) or Wang Huning (First Secretary of the Secretariat of the CCP) play a very relevant role in determine China's foreign policy priorities and strategies. Through a case study of the Chinese MOFA during the context of the China-USA Trade War, this article explores the internationalization strategy of the Chinese MOFA. It does so by analyzing how experts, think tanks and Chinese diplomats contributed to China's international narrative(s) with regards to the Trade War with the United States. It then draws attention about consequences to this important strategy employed by the Chinese MOFA to become more internationalized, thanks to the role played by such actors (based within China as well as abroad).