The Disappearing “Period of Strategic Opportunity”: Implications for China’s Grand Strategy in a New Era

Why the concept of a “period of strategic opportunity” was not expressed in the report on the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2022, as has been the case for the past 20 years, is a question worthy of further investigation. The ebb and flow of the liberal international order, as well as Biden's implementation of a tougher and more effective China policy than the Trump administration, have made the CCP leadership aware of the reduction of China's strategic opportunities. This has triggered changes in the Chinese Communist Party’s grand strategic rhetoric in the short period from 2020 to 2022. Analysis of the usage of the term “period of strategic opportunity” in China’s official documents over three periods, namely the 2000s, 2010s, and after 2020, and identifying the differences among influential Chinese scholars provides the tools to demonstrate and confirm the argument described above. Moreover, Chinese leadership no longer expresses China’s grand strategic plans as optimistically as they have over the past 20 years, but they still hope to maintain strategic stability with Washington to avoid prematurely losing more strategic opportunities.