Chinese Word: 先礼后兵 - Talking Chinese English Dictionary

peaceful measures before using force (idiom); diplomacy before violence; jaw-jaw is better than war-war

1		zhè 这 pō 颇 yǒu diǎn 有点「 xiān lǐ hòu bīng 先礼后兵」 de 的 wèi dao 味道。 This is quite a point "before resorting to force" flavor.
2		zhōng guó rén 中国人 shì 是 xǐ huan 喜欢 xiān lǐ hòu bīng 先礼后兵 de 的， bìng bù 并不 shì 是 ruǎn ruò 软弱 kě qī 可欺， ér shì 而是 yì zhǒng 一种 jūn 君 shì 视 chén xià 臣下 de 的 qì shì 气势。 Chinese is likes to be first gift empress soldier of, and not is vehemence that flabbiness can deceive , but a kind of gentleman sees the liege man.
3		bú guò 不过 dé 得 xiān lǐ hòu bīng 先礼后兵， xiān 先 tuī xíng 推行 huái róu 怀柔 zhèng cè 政策 bù dé yào lǐng 不得要领 zhī hòu 之后， jiù 就 kě yǐ 可以 yòng 用 zhè 这 jù huà 句话， ràng 让 duì fāng 对方 de 的 jiǎo biàn 狡辩 wú chù cáng shēn 无处藏身。 You would usually only use this phrase after politely requesting that someone repay a debt to you and they try to weasel out of it.