China's reaction issued worries all around the globe, as the war in Ukraine had reinforced the realization that sudden escalation and war were still possible in this world. The concern is not unjustified. China's foreign policy strategies and its current handling of domestic affairs appear unpredictable. In particular, tangible possibilities of escalation regarding Chinese ‘core interests’ predate the war in Ukraine. China's assertive behavior in the field of foreign politics has grown continuously and more substantially due to numerous causes deeply rooted within domestic and foreign affairs.

On these matters, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Korea Office and the Sungkyun Institute of China Studies at Sungkyunkwan University hosted an international seminar on July 4, 2022, inviting scholars and experts in the field of China studies as well as international relations and foreign policies of China, South Korea, the United States, and the European Union.

The experts held discussions on the status-quo of China's domestic affairs, and perspectives on Chinese foreign policies in the context of multilateral relations. They focused on current Chinese domestic affairs, and shared insights into Chinese foreign affairs in the context of U.S.-China relations, as well as their assessments of the numerous grounds of China's current and future foreign policy strategy. This report is a summary of those discussions.