Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[b7lake]

(1)China wants to safeguard her interests and extend her influence in northeast Asia.
(2)China wants to safeguard her interests and extend its influence in northeast Asia.

Which one is correct?

Thanks for your help!

[pugachevV]

Technically, China is a neuter gender entity, so it ought to be referred to as "it". However, countries are often referred to as "she", in the same way that ships are. It seems to make them more worthy of being loved, I suppose.

In answer to your specific question, if you start off referring to China as she, you should be consistent, as in sentence #1.