1 February 2016After years of economic growth, China is claiming more influence on the international stage. Behind President Xi Jinping’s efforts to enhance China’s status as a nation lie domestic motives, says Akio Takahara in this podcast. Xi wants to maintain the power of the Communist Party, stability and economic growth of the country. Takahara, professor for contemporary Chinese politics at the university of Tokyo and visiting academic fellow at MERICS, analyses China’s ambitious foreign policy from a Japanese angle. He gives keen insights into the ups and downs in the relationship between Beijing and Tokyo, and describes the worries of the neighboring countries over China’s growing assertiveness in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.