A Rising China And Security In East Asia

This volume provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the security discourse of Chinese policy elites on the major powers in East Asia in relation to China’s self-perception as a rising power. It is the first book-length study that utilizes International Relations theories systematically to analyze Chinese security perceptions of the United States, Japan and Russia, and the debate among Chinese international relations specialists on how China should respond to the perceived challenge from the major powers to its rise to a global status. Rex Li argues that the security discourse of Chinese policy analysts is closely linked to their conception of China’s identity and their desire and endeavour to construct a great power identity for China. Drawing on extensive and up-to-date Chinese-language sources, the study demonstrates that Chinese elites perceive the power, aspirations and security strategies of other East Asian powers primarily in terms of their implications for China’s pursuit of great power status. This new work will contribute significantly to the on-going academic and policy debate on the nature and repercussions of China’s rise. This book will be essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students and scholars of Asian security, China’s foreign relations, security studies and international relations.

This edited volume offers diverse and comprehensive views of China's rise and its implications to the East Asian region and beyond. The economic growth of China, initially started in the late-1970s with domestic and rural reforms, has been increasingly driven by China's industrialization and integration into the regional and global markets. The growth and integration of China, however, has exposed China's closest neighbours and even more remote countries to its various (previously internal) problems, and the lagging political openness of China has often negatively impacted on cooperation with other countries in dealing with these problems (i.e. trans-border pollutions, epidemics, illegal migrations, organized crimes, financial management, etc.). This book integrates geopolitical and domestic political analysis of China with a broad set of transnational security issues, and includes a diversity of regional views. In doing so, it explores further than the dichotomous debate between the American realists and liberals, adding finesse to the often simplified discussions on how to deal with the rising China. This book will be of interest to students of Asian Politics, Security Studies and International Relations.

China’s emergence as a great power is a global concern that can potentially alter the structure of world politics. Its rise is multidimensional, affecting the political, security, and economic affairs of all states that comprise the world’s fastest developing region of the Asia-Pacific. Most of the recently published studies on China’s rise have focused on its relations with its immediate neighbours in Northeast Asia: Japan, the Koreas, Taiwan, and Russia. Less attention has been given to Southeast Asia’s relations with China. To address these issues, this volume, with its wide range of perspectives, will make a valuable contribution to the ongoing policy and academic dialogue on a rising China. It examines a range of perspectives on the nature of China’s rise and its implications for Southeast Asian states as well as US interests in the region. China, the United States and South-East Asia will be of great interest to students of Chinese politics, South-East Asian politics, regional security and international relations in general.

ÔKhoo, Jones, and Smith have pulled off a remarkable balancing act, crafting a well-grounded and multifaceted survey of ChinaÕs rise in the context of Asian security. In a field which is often marked more by scholarly effervescence than substance, the authors provide a refreshingly detailed portrait of the last two decades, and fair-mindedly point out evidence which might support both extremes of the debates they challenge with their own Òthird wayÓ.Õ Ð Frank ÒScottÓ Douglas, US Naval War College, US ÔCongratulations to the authors for a clearly argued and comprehensive treatment of ChinaÕs post Cold War rise and what it means for existing and future dynamics of the Asia-Pacific region. Effectively employing realist theory in a fair-minded treatment of regional developments, the volume shows how and why power realities are more important than non-material factors in determining the regionÕs trajectory and thereby demonstrates that ChinaÕs ascendance in Asia remains complicated and conflicted.Õ Ð Robert Sutter, George Washington University, US East Asia is without question a region of huge economic, political and security significance. Asian Security and the Rise of China offers a comprehensive overview and assessment of the international politics of the Asia-Pacific since the end of the Cold War, seeking to address the overarching question of how we can most convincingly explain the central dynamics of AsiaÕs international relations. Via a realist perspective on the dynamics and frictions associated with accommodating the rise of powerful states, this timely book addresses the core issue in contemporary Asian politics: the rise of China. The contributors expertly evaluate ChinaÕs rise and the impact it has had on the dynamics of regional relations in North East and South East Asia. It demonstrates that ChinaÕs economic development and its regional and international ambition increasingly conflict with the existing consensus-based regional arrangements like the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asian Summit mechanism. As a consequence, smaller states in the region increasingly resort to hedging and balancing strategies in an attempt to mitigate Chinese hegemony. This leaves the region in the grip of a complex and potentially destabilizing security dilemma. The book offers a compelling analysis of the problem that China presents for its region that will enlighten undergraduate students of regional political studies and international relations. Postgraduate and MasterÕs students on courses addressing East and South East Asia will also find plenty of information in this invaluable book.

Over the past three decades, China has rapidly emerged as a major regional power, yet East Asia has been more peaceful than at any time since the Opium Wars of 1839-1841. Why has the region accommodated China's rise? David C. Kang believes certain preferences and beliefs are responsible for maintaining stability in East Asia. His research shows that East Asian states have grown closer to China, with little evidence that the region is rupturing. These states see China's rise as advantageous and are willing to defer judgment as to China's wishes and future actions. They believe that a strong China stabilizes East Asia, while a weak China tempts other states to seek control of the region. Kang's provocative work reveals the flaws in contemporary views on China and offers a new understanding of sound U.S. policy in East Asia.

One of the most significant factors for contemporary international relations is the growth of China’s economic, military, and political power. Indeed, few analysts would dispute the observation that China’s power has strongly influenced the structure of the international system, major-power strategic relations, international security, the patterns of trans-border economic activities, and most importantly, the political and security dynamics in Asia in the twenty-first century. This book maps the growth of China’s political, economic, and military capabilities and its impact on the security order in Asia over the coming decades. While updating the emerging power dimensions and prevailing discourse, it provides a nuanced analysis of whether the growth of Chinese power is resulting in Beijing becoming more assertive, or even aggressive, in its behavior and pursuit of national interests. It also examines how the key Asian countries perceive and react to the growth of China’s power and how US rebalancing would play out in the context of Beijing’s political, economic, and military power. China’s Power and Asian Security will be of huge interest to student and scholars of Asian politics, Chinese politics, security studies and international security and international relations more generally.

In East Asia, the United States is often acknowledged as a key determinant of stability given its military presence and role as a security guarantor. In the post-Cold War period, regional uncertainties about the potential dangers attending a rising China have led some analysts to conclude that almost all Southeast Asian states now see the United States as the critical balancing force. In contrast, based on case studies of Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam, this study argues that key states in the region do not perceive themselves as having the stark choices of either balancing against or bandwagoning with China. Instead, they pursue hedging strategies that comprise three elements: indirect balancing, which mainly involves persuading the United States to act as counterweight to Chinese regional influence; complex engagement of China at the political, economic, and strategic levels, with the hope that Chinese leaders may be socialized into conduct that abides by international norms; and a more general policy of enmeshing a number of regional great powers in order to give them a stake in a stable regional order. The study also investigates each state?s perceptions of the American role in regional security and discusses how they operationalize their hedging policies against a potential U.S. drawdown in the region, as well as the different degrees to which they use their relationships with the United States as a hedge against potential Chinese domination. Finally, it discusses these states? expectations of what the United States should do to help in their hedging strategies toward China, suggesting a range of policies that span the military as well as political, diplomatic, and economic realms. This is the sixteenth publication in Policy Studies, a peer-reviewed East-West Center Washington series that presents scholarly analysis of key contemporary domestic and international political, economic, and strategic issues affecting Asia in a policy relevant manner.