Swords into ploughshares? China's Soft Power strategy in Southeast Asia and its challenges1

Liu, Tony Tai-Ting; Tsai, Tung-Chieh

doi:10.1590/0034-7329201400203

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The concept first appeared in a joint statement released by both parties during the first China-ASEAN Summit in 1997 (ASEAN, 2012). The concept itself stands for peaceful resolution and negotiations among China and ASEAN countries with respect to conflicts, an emphasis on regular bilateral dialogue, and pursuing deeper economic cooperation within the region (Liu and Tsai, 2014). It subsequently appeared in speeches delivered under Jiang's leadership, often describing China-ASEAN relations as jointly pursuing a "good neighborly partnership of mutual trust to the 21 st century" (Jiang, 1997;Zhu, 1999).…”

Section: Discourse Of Unity: Towards a Common Destinymentioning

confidence: 99%

Of Benevolence and Unity: Unpacking China's Policy Discourses Toward Southeast Asia

Gloria

2021

J. ASEAN Studies

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While much attention has been directed on the security and economic implications of China’s rise in the region, research on the normative implications of China’s persistent attempt at projecting a positive major power identity continue to be lacking. This paper seeks to contribute to this growing literature, as it applies Social Identity Theory (SIT) in analyzing China’s discourses toward Southeast Asia from Mao to Xi. More specifically, it unpacks social identity phenomena within discourses reflected in official documents by using predicate analysis. Insights from the findings of this paper underscore China’s growing role as a normative power driven by a longstanding objective to be perceived positively and distinctively. Likewise, this paper also finds that there is a continuity with respect to China’s foreign policy discourse of depicting Sino-Southeast Asia relations as unique and united. There are also indications that Southeast Asia has consistently been presented as benefiting from its relations with China, thereby treating it as a prototype of what a Sino-centric order might offer for the rest of the world. Ultimately, China’s discourses of itself, Southeast Asia, and Sino-Southeast Asia relations point to major power aspirations of constructing a united in-group and a positive identity.

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Section: Discourse Of Unity: Towards a Common Destinymentioning

confidence: 99%

Of Benevolence and Unity: Unpacking China's Policy Discourses Toward Southeast Asia

Gloria

2021

J. ASEAN Studies

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“…It often lacks even a well-developed definition. This can best be exemplified in the extensive number of studies aimed at understanding China, and comprehending its rise and diplomatic strategy (Gill and Huang 2006;Cho and Jeong 2008;Breslin 2009;Lee 2009;Holyk 2011;Lai and Lu 2012;Liu and Tsai 2014;Kim 2015;Li 2015), as well as analyzing its normative power (Callahan and Barabantseva 2011), the attractiveness of its national model (Ramo 2004;Cho and Jeong 2008) or the economic system as a successful alternative to the US/Western democratic neoliberal system (Huang and Ding 2006;Ding 2008). These studies focus on the perceived role of an often undefined concept, often simply based on Nye's work without more comprehensive elaboration or focus.…”

Section: The Limitations Of Soft Power In Research On East Asiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Capturing Power Shift in East Asia: Toward an Analytical Framework for Understanding “Soft Power”

Weissmann¹

2020

Asian Perspective

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Mainstream International Relations (IR) theory has problems fully accounting for the regional dynamics of East Asia. This article explores whether the pursuit of soft power-a concept that has been given a prominent position in research on East Asian IR-can provide one piece of the puzzle for understanding East Asia's regional dynamics. This article proposes an analytical framework for analyzing soft power that problematizes the rigid soft power/hard power binary. The framework proposes a way to understand soft power and the hard-soft spectrum of behavior that allows for the inclusion of economic power while still drawing a line between hard and soft power, where not all economic power is soft, but nor is it all hard. It is argued that to keep the concept of soft power relevant in the East Asian context economic power needs to be included. The line is drawn between economic coercion and economic inducement, arguing that when induced there is still a certain level of freedom as one can choose whether the payments or bribes offered are good enough for it to be worthwhile to change one's preference and behavior. Coercion, in contrast, utilizes a different dynamic where the point is to force someone to do something they are unwilling to do.

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“…For this reason, it adopted the Good Neighbour Policy at the end of the 1980s (Liu & Tsai, 2014) [4]. This policy consists of four points: 1) peaceful resolution of territorial disputes; 2) establishment of a bilateral dialogue based on cooperation in the prevention and resolution of conflicts; 3) support of multilateralism; 4) economic cooperation deepening.…”

Section: The Guiding Principles and Concepts Behind China's Foreign Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The phrase was thus gradually phased out, but its principles were strengthened in the form of the concepts of «Harmonious Society» (in the realm of domestic policy) and its foreign policy equivalent, a «Harmonious World.» This last one was introduced by Hu at the Asia-Africa Summit in Jakarta in 2005. It emphasises multilateralism, collective security, mutual advantage and respect of diversity (mainly in the form of government or economic model) (Liu & Tsai, 2014) [4]. In the sphere of security, this means promoting multilateralism and common or collective security based on mutual trust and cooperation.…”

Section: The Guiding Principles and Concepts Behind China's Foreign Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underpinnings of China’s rise: concepts and soft power

Ondriaš¹

2017

EA-XXI

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Abstract. This paper puts forward theoretical concepts and principles which formally guide the foreign policy of the successive generations of leadership of the People's Republic of China since the later era of Deng Xiaoping. It describes the main tenets of these concepts and shows how they influence the approaches to the foreign policy conduct, as well as how they are seen by those who criticise China abroad. The soft power policy is another main subject of this article. Special attention is paid to the so-called Beijing Consensus, or the Chinese model of development, as an alternative to the neoliberal Washington Consensus. The results of the conducted research show that these theoretical guidelines should not be dismissed, since they provide a way to maintain a dialogue with China by using a language and concepts which both China and its regional and Western partners can understand. This could help China to better integrate into the current global order. The conclusion is therefore that disregard of the abovementioned concepts and policies would be a mistake, because through them China declares its willingness to play by the rules of the international system. China has an interest in preserving the system which has led the country to its meteoric rise and provides it a status quo in the matters of power, making it reformist instead of revisionist. Any revisionism must be understood as part of China's attempts to rebalance the neighbouring regions after its long absence as a regional power. Keywords: China; Soft Power; China's Peaceful Rise; Harmonious World; Chinese Dream; Nationalism JEL Classification: F50; O53 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21003/ea.V163-06Юрай Ондріаш аспірант, Економічний університет у Братиславі, Братислава, Словацька Республіка Основи економічного зростання Китаю: концепції та принцип дії «м'якої сили» Анотація У статті розглядаються теоретичні положення та принципи, які лягли в основу ведення успішної зовнішньої політики Китайської Народної Республіки від часу пізнього періоду керування державою Ден Сяопіном. Автором статті було проаналізовано те, як основоположні засади різних концепцій впливають на вибір підходів до ведення зовнішньої політики КНР, а також те, як ці засади сприймають критики Китай за кордоном. Політика «м'якої сили» -ще одна тема, яка досліджується у статті. Особливу увагу приділено Пекінському консенсусу, або Китайській моделі економічного розвитку, яка є альтернативою неоліберальній моделі Вашингтонського консенсусу. Результати проведеного аналізу доводять те, що положеннями згаданих вище концепцій не слід зневажати, оскільки вони створюють умови для ведення діалогу з Китаєм через мову й термінологію, які є зрозумілими як Китаю, так і його регіональним і західним партнерам. Це в свою чергу може допомогти Китайській Народній Республіці краще інтегруватися в існуючий світовий порядок. Автор статті дійшов висновку, що не слід нехтувати згаданими концепціями та принципами ведення зовнішньої політики, оскільки через них Китай декларує своє бажання діяти за правилами, визначен...

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Swords into ploughshares? China's Soft Power strategy in Southeast Asia and its challenges1

Cited by 6 publications

References 12 publications

Of Benevolence and Unity: Unpacking China's Policy Discourses Toward Southeast Asia

Of Benevolence and Unity: Unpacking China's Policy Discourses Toward Southeast Asia

Capturing Power Shift in East Asia: Toward an Analytical Framework for Understanding “Soft Power”

Underpinnings of China’s rise: concepts and soft power

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