Chinese foreign relations in a local setting : the sister city program of the People's Republic of China

The evolution of the Chinese Sister City Program reflects changes in the international and domestic contexts. Rates of establishment for all linkages between Chinese locales and their foreign counterparts from the establishment of the program in 1972 until 1994 were plotted and the resulting spatial array was analysed. The domestic political upheavals and the resulting slowing of foreign interest in China from 1973 to 1978, 1986 and 1989 all lowered the CSCP rates of establishment. When rifts appeared between China and other nations, i.e. Japan, the establishment rates were also lessened. Therefore the CSCP establishment rate is not only a window to view shifting levels of bilateral interaction, it also reflects Chinese foreign policy objectives and domestic situation. The Friendship City program of the PRC is a nation-wide Sister City program with Chinese characteristics. Regions and cities that have Friendship City ties tend to have large populations, high levels of foreign income and large numbers of foreign visitors. Cities on the eastern board are much more likely to established than those in the central and western areas. There are no cross-border linkages. The foreign counterparts are most likely to have come from a country that has full diplomatic relations with the PRC, does not recognise Taiwan, enjoys a high level of development and does not share a border with China. Although the highest number of linkages are with locales in Japan and the USA, Russia and South Korea are quickly gaining. Since 1992 there has been new impetus given to the CSCP which was signified by the creating of a new organisation to oversee the program - the Chinese International Federation of Friendship Cities. The activities of numerous linkages were analysed so as to show the various stages ot operationalisation. Two pathways of affiliation were discovered as well as nine motivations for joining a Sister City Program