The Duality of Vietnam’s Deference and Resistance to China

Critically reviewing David Kang’s China-centred hierarchical model, his interpretation of historical interactions between China and Vietnam favours Sinocentrism whilst claiming to rescue historical East Asian international relations theories from Eurocentrism. This analysis provides a nuanced account of Vietnam’s agency in pursuing its national interests in the context of a rising China, showing that Vietnam today continues to draw on the historical tradition of deference/resistance to China to orient its strategies and tactics in dealing with its northern neighbour. Vietnam’s stance toward China is akin to balancing Great Power influence, which entails enlisting other Great Powers to defend its core interests vis-à-vis China. The result is that Vietnam simultaneously pursues a mixture of deference and resistance to China that does not resemble balance of power—against China, or balance of threat—bandwagon with China's behaviours.     

Europe’s response to China’s rise: competing strategic visions

Asia Europe Journal - How should Europe respond to China’s growing economic and military capabilities, and to the more assertive foreign policy behavior it has generated? Should it seek to...     

Evolution of the U.S. Strategy toward China and China’s Peaceful Development

China-U.S. relationship is the most important one between two big powers in the world today. It is both bilateral and global by nature. How to handle this relationship is closely linked with the fundamental interests of the U.S. and China, as well as peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region and even in the world. So, a profound examination of the nature of U.S. strategy toward China and its evolution over the years will help to fully understand the opportunities and challenges China will meet in the course of peaceful development.     

Global interactions of China and India: Divergent paths of trade?

This article explores the global positions of China and India in merchandise trade. It first compares the integration models of China and India and, thereafter, examines the core factors that drive their trading relationships. With respect to their global trading partners, there are considerable differences in the influence of economic drivers of trade for China and India. Combined larger markets, similar consumer preferences, similar factor endowments and linguistic links enhance global exports from China. Alternatively, smaller market size, discrepancy in consumer demands, dissimilar factor endowments and combined stocks of foreign direct investments drive India’s global trade. The findings suggest that differences in the structure and demand of China vis-a-vis India dictate the divergence in the profile of their trade determinants. Such divergence in trade drivers, however, dissipates when taking into account Chinese and Indian partnerships on a regional basis – with East Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Latin America, European Union (EU), and Africa.     

China’s rise as a strategic challenge and opportunity: India’s China discourse and strategy

The simultaneous rise of China and India is one of the most important developments in contemporary world politics. Given their steadily growing power and aspirations and China’s more assertive posture in Asia, the management of China’s rise is one of the major challenges for India’s foreign policy. However, India is often said to have no guiding strategic framework for its China policy, which is seen as incoherent and reactive. This article, by contrast, shows that India has an evolving China strategy and that the alleged inconsistencies in India’s China policy are rather the result of an ambivalent image of China. Drawing on constructivism and discourse analysis, the article identifies the dominant perception of China in India’s foreign policy discourse and the resulting foreign policy strategy. In a next step, the article analyzes the China policy of the Congress-led UPA Government and investigates whether it conforms to the strategic policy frame of the dominant China discourse.     

The Inability of Japan to Adapt to China＇ s Rise and China＇ s Strategic Response

since China first surpassed Japan in 2010 to become the world＇s second largest economy, the continuing friction and tensions between China and Japan has intensified around issues such as the Diaoyu Islands and the East China Sea air defense identification zone. At the end of 2013, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe＇s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, the Sino-Japanese relationship was brought to the lowest point in nearly 30 years. What are the deep-seated reasons for this？ What are Japan＇s strategic intentions？ These questions are worthy of further exploration.     

Two States: A Comparative Analysis of Gujarat and Bihar’s Growth Performance Between 1981–2011

We examine the growth performance of two states, Gujarat and Bihar, whose economic turnaround under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar has received a lot of attention in the run up to the recently concluded national elections. We study if there are trend breaks in the growth rates in Gujarat and Bihar relative to the national average after these respective leaders came to power. We decompose the growth rates in these two states by sector, namely, agriculture, industry, and services, and try to ascertain where any potential growth spurt may have come from. We also look at the evidence on trend breaks in growth of real wages in these states relative to the national average as a first step to understand how growth may or may not have trickled down to the poorer sections.     

The China–EU relation and media representation of China: the case of British newspaper’s coverage of China in the post-Brexit referendum era

This paper presents a comparative approach that discusses whether British newspapers with different political agendas report China differently, in the post-Brexit referendum UK. As UK still remains as a member country of the EU 3 years after the vote, the relationship between China and the UK is still a source that impacts China–EU relations. Specifically, political agendas of British newspapers heavily impact their reports of domestic political issues and of the EU; this research questions whether such a difference can be observed in reports of China or not. The research selects four popular newspapers in the UK, The Sun, The Times, The Guardian and The Mirror, and analyses their coverage of China between 01/01/2017 and 31/12/2018. Among them, The Sun and The Times are right-wing/leaning newspapers and support the Conservative Party, while The Guardian and The Mirror are left-wing/leaning and the Labour Party supporters. This study applies content analysis and compares three perspectives in these four newspapers’ reports of China: the number of reports, the topics of reports and the associations (threats or cooperate) with China. By comparing the similarity and difference in those four newspapers’ coverages, this paper aims to understand what image of China those popular British newspapers were creating for their readers, what impressions of China were generated and whether and how the coverage reflects the changing Sino–UK relations in the post-Brexit era. If so, how the right-leaning and left-leaning newspapers frame China differently.

     

Guest Editor’s Introduction: India’s Economy: Growth,Governance, and Reform

This introduction provides the context for, summarizes, and connects the articles in the special issue.     

Building the West’s On-Ramp to China’s Belt and Road: Opportunities in the South Caucasus

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is already changing infrastructure and production across much of the world. The three states of the South Caucasus and their counterparts in Central Asia need diverse connectivity to preserve their economic and political independence amid China’s expanding influence. Despite some rhetoric and practical measures, the United States and the European Union (EU) continue to underestimate the BRI. This article identifies recent international and regional developments that converge to create a unique opportunity for the West and South Caucasus partners. They may develop integrated, long-terms infrastructure of lasting mutual benefit. The convergence of events in and around the South Caucasus offers the place for the West to build an “On-Ramp” to the BRI. The South Caucasus provide a potential gateway into Asia’s heart that is not dictated solely by the priorities of Chinese foreign or commercial policies, just as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline of a generation ago served a similar role.     

China’s Economic Contributions to the World and East Asia

China’s continued high economic growth hasdrawn increasing attention of the world. However,it has received very different evaluations, withthe most representative and conflicting ones being“China threat theory”or “China harm theory”vs.“China opportu     

Knowing your audience: How the structure of international relations and organizational choices affect amnesty international’s advocacy

While research has addressed the effects of international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) advocacy on human rights outcomes, less is known about how INGOs choose advocacy targets and tactics. We combine insights from political economy and constructivism to understand how INGOs come to choose targets and tactics through the concepts of information and leverage politics, first articulated by Keck and Sikkink (1998), and salience politics, or the need to select cases that energize organization members and donors. INGOs select potential targets for advocacy and choose their tactics based on considerations of leverage potential and political salience, both of which are a function of potential target states’ aid, trade, and security linkages with major Western powers. Using data on Amnesty International’s written advocacy efforts - background reports, press releases, and new data on Urgent Actions - we find robust evidence that Amnesty International accounts for these linkages with Western powers in choosing targets for its advocacy campaigns.     

Harmonious World and China’s Road of Peaceful Development

The important concept of building a "harmonious society", a "harmonious Asia" and a "harmonious world" initiated by President Hu Jintao is of great theoretical and practical significance as it constitutes the comprehensive guiding principle for China's domestic politics and external strategies, and establishes the goal and orientation China pursues in the changing international system.     

India’s Growth Slowdown: End of an Era?

This article examines the sources of rapid economic growth in India in the 2000s and explanations for the growth slowdown in more recent years. We use the Indian national accounts and the National Sample Survey (NSS) to perform a growth accounting analysis. We disaggregate the total economy into agriculture, industry and services and separately identify the contributions of labor, capital and improvements in productivity. Services account for the largest share of the acceleration in 2000-10. Industry, on the other hand, is the sector most reflective of the recent slowdown. The high growth of the 2000s can be traced to strong capital accumulation, improvements in labor skills and large productivity gains. A slowing in the pace of economic reform and a general deterioration in fiscal and monetary policies appear to be the major factors responsible for the slower pace of growth since 2010.     

‘The limits of international leadership’: The Eisenhower administration,East‐West trade and the cold war, 1953–54

This article examines the Eisenhower administration's trade policy towards the Soviet Union in 1953–54. It argues, contrary to previous scholarship on the subject, that the liberalization of East‐West trade controls in August 1954 cannot be attributed solely to the presidential leadership of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Instead, whilst Eisenhower played a significant role in changing American embargo policy, it was the Churchill government which provided the impetus required for the revision of the international export control lists. Despite conflict and confrontation over the shape and contents of the new embargo between Washington and London, the two governments forged a compromise in the summer of 1954.     

China’s Diplomatic Strategy and Peaceful Development:Opportunities and Challenges

The strategy of peaceful development pursued by China in the present international environment is faced with both opportunities and challenges, with the former outweighing the latter. To make proper use of the opportunities and cope with the challenges so as to accelerate the process of China’s peaceful development, it is crucial to improve our diplomatic strategy and ideas and plan our diplomatic work from an overall strategic perspective. This is also a major issue posed to China’s diplom…     

Popular Threats and Nationalistic Propaganda: Political Logic of China’s Patriotic Campaign

Abstract

Conventional wisdom suggests that authoritarian leaders use nationalist propaganda as a tool to strengthen mass support. Yet few studies have provided systematic evidence to account for specific tactics underlying these information manipulations. We argue that autocrats, recognizing the material costs of propaganda, are more likely to target localities with the greatest antiregime potential. Using a unique dataset of “patriotic education sites” that the Chinese Communist Party assigned throughout China as tools to advance its nationalistic campaign, we found a systematic association between these locations and the scale of antiregime mobilization in the 1989 prodemocracy movement. The longer the antiregime protest lasted in a city in 1989, the greater the number of patriotic education sites the city contains. Our findings highlight the strategic way in which autocrats manipulate nationalist propaganda to mitigate popular threats.     

The Evolution of China’s Security Challenges and Grand Strategy

This article examines changes in China’s security perceptions since 1949 and sketches the evolution of China’s grand strategy. In tracing the evolution of China’s security perceptions and grand strategy since 1949, it identifies elements of change as well as continuity. The changes reflect dramatic developments in the PRC’s capabilities and the international circumstances it faces, both of which have shaped the grand strategic choices of China’s leaders. During most of the Cold War decades, a relatively weak China’s vulnerability to serious military threats from much more powerful adversaries led the CCP to adopt grand strategies focused on coping with a clearly defined external security challenge. After the Cold War and especially in the 21st century, an increasingly complex array of internal and external security concerns confronts China’s leaders with new challenges. The paper concludes with a discussion of the significance of the recently established National Security Commission and offers brief observations about its potential significance for the CCP’s leadership in their fight against the new domestic and international security challenges it faces. The novelty of China’s security challenges at home and abroad in the 21st century is a consequence of the end of the Cold War international order and perhaps more importantly, a consequence of China’s successful modernization since 1979.     

‘Diplomatic Divergence: the Japanese and British Responses to Indonesia’s Confrontation of Malaysia 1963–1966’

While Indonesia’s policy of Confrontation towards Malaysia brought it into direct military conflict with Britain, this same event prompted Japan to pursue its first explicit postwar diplomatic initiative. Due to different strategic goals for the region, Britain and Japan’s approaches to Indonesian bellicosity were markedly different. Notably, while Britain took a hard-line stance with President Sukarno, Japan in contrast took a lenient approach eschewing economic and diplomatic isolation of Indonesia. With a latent warming in Anglo–Japanese ties beginning in this decade, this paper demonstrates that despite their antithetical approaches to this Southeast Asian crisis bilateral relations were not adversely affected.

---

China–Australia strategic partnership in the context of China’s grand peripheral diplomacy

Alongside its rise, China has intensified its relations with countries on its periphery by adopting a “dual-core” strategy in order to create a “Community of Common Destiny”. In this context, China has upgraded its relationship with Australia from “commercial” to “strategic” levels. China’s “dual-core” strategy and the China–Australia strategic partnership reveal not only China’s desire for intensifying its economic interdependence with countries on its periphery, Australia included, but also China’s strategic intention of creating its own sphere of influence in the form of a “Community of Common Destiny”. China wishes to sustain its economic and social progress by restoring the past glory of “Fuqiang” (wealth and power) as it enhances both its “hard” and “soft” power. The intensified economic interdependence may persuade countries on its periphery to avoid being involved in any attempt by China’s competitors to contain its rise.