Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T09:09:56.043Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rethinking East Asian Regional Order and China's Rise*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2013

SUN XUEFENG
SUN XUEFENG*
Affiliation:
Department of International Relations, Tsinghua Universitysunxuefeng@tsinghua.edu.cn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

After the end of World War II, East Asia gradually formed what can be referred to as a quasi-anarchical regional order. The quasi-anarchy system is defined by the anarchy system associated with a sub-hierarchical system, so this system possesses the characteristics of both anarchy and hierarchy in terms of security relations among states. The states in a quasi-anarchical order can be differentiated into three types according to the method through which they seek security. They comprise that of self-help states, the state that provides security guarantees to client states (security guarantor), and states that receive security protection from the security guarantor (client states) within the quasi-anarchy. The standard security relationship between states consists of two types: the first is a competitive security relationship; the second is a security-dependent relationship. The quasi-anarchical order in East Asia has restricted the continuance and positive effect of a rising China's reassurance policy through three mechanisms: dependence, reliance on support, and imitation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 14 , Special Issue 1: Japan–China Fragile Partnership: At Fortieth Anniversary of Diplomatic Normalization , March 2013 , pp. 9 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This article is the revised version of the author's Chinese piece. [Sun Xuefeng, “Dongya zhunwuzhengfu zhixu yu Zhongguo de Dongya anquan zhengce” (“Quasi-anarchic Order in East Asian and China's East Asian Security Policy”), Waijiao pinglun (Foreign Affairs Review), No. 6 (2011)]. The author would like to express his sincere thanks to the following scholars for their critical comments and suggestions for revisions: Chen Hanxi, Chen Zhirui, Gao Cheng, Chikako Ueki Kawakatsu, Takashi Inoguchi, Lin Minwang, Liu Feng, Chisako Masuo, Key-young Son, Tang Shiping, Wu Wencheng, Xu Jin, Yan Liang, Yang Yuan, Zhang Ruizhuang, Zhou Fangyin.

References

1 In this article, East Asian states refer to China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, ASEAN states, and the United States.

2 On the proposal of China's policy, see Wen Jiabao, ‘China's Development and the Revitalization of Asia’, speech at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/pds/gjhdq/gjhdqzz/lhg_14/zyjh/t27173.htm. China's policy of ‘bringing harmony, security and prosperity to neighbors’ is actually the same as reassurance policies as discussed in international relations theory. Theoretically speaking, a reassurance policy refers to efforts by one state to the fears that other states have with respect to its intentions (capabilities) in principle and practice. See Shiping, Tang, A Theory of Security Strategy for Our Times: Defensive Realism (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), p. 132.Google Scholar For the sake of simplicity, this article uses the term reassurance policy to refer to China's policy of ‘friendship, peace and security between neighbors’.

3 On China's reassurance policy towards ASEAN states, see Shambaugh, David, ‘China Engages Asia: Reshaping the Regional Order’, International Security, 29, 3 (2004 /05): 64–99CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Xuefeng, Sun, ‘Why Does China Reassure South-East Asia’, Pacific Focus, 24, 3 (2009): 298–316.Google Scholar

4 See Jiazhu, Shi, ‘Nanhai jianli xinren cuoshi yu quyu anquan (Trust Building Measures in the South China Sea and Regional Security)’, Guoji guancha (International Observer), 1 (2004): 42–7Google Scholar; Jones, D. M. and Smith, M. L. R., ‘Making Process, Not Progress ASEAN and the Evolving East Asian Regional Order’, International Security, 32, 1 (2007): 178–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Taylor Fravel, M., ‘Power Shifts and Escalation Explaining China's Use of Force in Territorial Disputes’, International Security, 32, 3 (2007/2008): 44–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 ‘China and Japan Reach a Consensus in Principle on the East Sea’, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/xwfw/fyrth/t448568.htm.

6 The core objective of China's reassurance strategy is to weaken concerns on the part of other states in the region related to the rise in Chinese power, to lessen security pressures on China to the greatest extent possible, and to maintain an advantageous regional security environment. As such, the means by which this article considers the effectiveness of China's reassurance policy is by looking to see whether China's security pressures are increasing. Specifically, this might include: actions by states in strengthening their sovereign territorial claims; or strategic adjustments or measures taken in response to China.

7 International Crisis Group, ‘Stirring up the South China Sea (II): Regional Responses’, Asian Report No. 229, 24 July 2012, http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/asia/north-east-asia/229-stirring-up-the-south-china-sea-ii-regional-responses.

8 ‘More Protests in China Over Japan and Islands’, New York Times, 18 September 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/world/asia/china-warns-japan-over-island-dispute.html.

9 Xuefeng, Sun, ‘The Efficiency of China's Multilateral Policies in East Asia (1997–2007)’, International Relations of Asia Pacific, 10, 3 (2010): 515–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10 Yinhong, Shi, ‘Dongya de “Anquan Liangnan” yu Chulu (East Asia's “Security Dilemma” and Paths Forward)’, Nanjing zhengzhi xueyuan xuebao (Journal of Nanjing Institute of Politics), 6 (2000): 48–51Google Scholar; Christensen, Thomas J., ‘China, the US–Japan Alliance and the Security Dilemma in East Asia’, International Security, 23, 4 (1999): 49–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11 On the necessary conditions for the application of the security dilemma theory, see Shiping, Tang, A Theory of Security Strategy for Our Times: Defensive Realism (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), p. 42Google Scholar; For additional details, also see Jervis, Robert, ‘Dilemmas About Security Dilemmas’, Security Studies, 20, 3 (2011): 421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

12 For an overview of relevant literature, see Xuefeng, Sun, Zhongguo jueqi kunjing (The Dilemma of China's Rise) (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2011), pp. 7–8.Google Scholar

13 In discussiongs of domestic social order and the evolution of international law, both Michael Taylor and Kazuko Hirose have used the concept of quasi-anarchy. See Taylor, Michael, Community, Anarchy, and Liberty (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), pp. 4CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 38; Hirose, Kazuko, A Social Theory of International Law: International Relations as a Complex System (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2003), p. 158.Google Scholar But neither of these two scholars have clearly defined quasi anarchy.

14 See Waltz, Kenneth, Theory of International Politics (Beijing: Peiking University Press, 2004, reprint edition)Google Scholar, chapter 5; Mearshiemer, John, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (New York: W.W. Norton, 2001)Google Scholar, chapter 2; Robert Art and Jervis, Robert, ‘Anarchy and Its Consequences’, in Art, Robert and Jervis, Robert (eds.), International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues (New York: Longman, 1999), pp. 2–4.Google Scholar

15 On the process of shifting alliances of states under the anarchic system in modern Europe, see Taylor, A. J. P., The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848–1918 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977)Google Scholar; On shifting alliances of states under anarchy in China during the Warring States Period, see Tin-bor Hui, Victoria, War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)Google Scholar, chapter 2.

16 It is important to point out that these states continue to exhibit the behaviors of independent sovereign states in the areas of trade and finance. For example, Japan is dependent on the US in terms of security, and in this area it is a classic client state; in the economic and financial realms, Japan continues to maintain its own clearly independent position.

17 For the hierarchy in international relations, see Lake, David, Hierarchy in International Relations (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009).Google Scholar

18 Xuetong, Yanet al., Zhongguo yu Yatai anquan (China and Asia-Pacific Security) (Beijing: Shishi chubanshe, 1999), pp. 165–6.Google Scholar

19 ‘Hatoyama Yukio Admits Japanese Dependence on America at Sino-Japanese-Korean Summit’, 10 October 2009, http://news.163.com/09/1010/14/5L95T5QG000120GU.html.

20 Ministry of Defence of Japan, Defence of Japan 2011, pp. 264–311, http://www.mod.go.jp/e/publ/w_paper/e-book/2011/_SWF_Window.html.

21 Harden, Blaine, ‘South Korea Seeks Assurances of US Nuclear Protection’, Washington Post, 16 June 2009Google Scholar, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/15/AR2009061500944.html.

22 ‘The ROK Plans to Establish American Base in the West Islands to Respond to Crisis or for Military Exercises’, http://news.sohu.com/20111114/n325480665.shtml.

23 http://news.sohu.com/s2010/hefenghui/.

24 Manuel Mogato and Stuart Grudgings, ‘Philippines May Ask for US Spy Planes over South China Sea’, 2 July 2012, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/02/us-philippines-aquino-southchina-idUSBRE8610H020120702.

25 Medeiros, Evan S., China's International Behavior: Activism, Opportunism, and Diversification (Santa Monica: RAND Corporation, 2009), p. 211.Google Scholar

26 Both anonymous reviewers of this revised version challenge the relevance of the quasi-anarchy to explain the success and failure of China's policy. I fully understand their concerns and agree with them that the structural factor cannot fully explain the failure of a policy in real life. The aim of this article is precisely to identify the mechanisms that the regional structure constrains on the efficiency China's regional reassurance policies and explore the strategic efficiency of China's reassurance policy under the quasi-anarchical order. For the explanation based on China's strategy, see Sun Xuefeng, ‘The Efficiency of China's Multilateral Policies in East Asia (1997–2007)’, pp. 515–41.

27 US AP, Manila Cable, 3 April 2004, cited in Zemin, Zheng, Nanhai wenti zhong de daguo yinsu (Great Power Elements of the South China Sea Issue) (Beijing: Shijie zhishi chubanshe, 2010), p. 85.Google Scholar

28 Robert Jervis, ‘Dilemmas About Security Dilemmas’, p. 419.

29 ‘Despite Strong Chinese Opposition, Three American Carriers Port at Danang for Military Exercises’, http://www.zaobao.com/special/china/southchinasea/pages/southchinasea110716.shtml.

30 Thanks to Dr. Liu Feng for his reminder.

31 ‘Vietnamese President Demands that the Military Rapidly Modernize to Respond to Challenges in the South China Sea’, 23 December 2009, http://military.people.com.cn/GB/1077/52987/10635531.html.

32 ‘The US, Japan and India Continue to Interfere in the South China Sea Dispute: Their Goal is to Counter China’, 15 October 2011, http://world.people.com.cn/GB/15905006.html.

33 Shicun, Wu, Zonglun nansha zhengduan (On the South China Sea Dispute) (Haikou: Hainan chubanshe, 2005), p. 121.Google Scholar

34 Sun Xuefeng, ‘The Efficiency of China's Multilateral Policies in East Asia (1997–2007)’, pp. 528–31.

35 In the case of the dispute over the South China Sea, the imitation mechanism is less evident. China's involvement in the Korean nuclear issue can provide more evidence of this, and for more on this see Sun Xuefeng, ‘The Efficiency of China's Multilateral Policies in East Asia (1997–2007)’, pp. 528–31.

36 Ibid., pp. 266–7.

37 Ibid., p. 266.

38 ‘In the Face of the Asian Financial Crisis, China Adopts Positive Policy’, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/pds/ziliao/wjs/t8973.htm.

39 An Shilian, ‘Reforms of Four Countries in Crisis’, http://finance.sina.com.cn/g/20070701/10433742259.shtml.

40 Anshan, You, ‘Lun jianli Zhongguo–Dongmeng ziyou maoyiqu de biranxing ji qianjing (On the Necessaity of and Prospects for Establishing a China–ASEAN Free Trade Zone)’, Shijie jingji yanjiu (World Economic Research), 9 (2003): 77Google Scholar; Clegg, Jenny, China's Global Strategy: Towards a Multi-Polar World, trans. Ge Xuelei (Beijing: Xinhua chubanshe, 2010), pp. 113–14.Google Scholar

41 Tang Tang, ‘Dongmeng guojia dui Zhongguo Dongmeng ziyou maoyiqu de yilu ji yuanyin fenxi (Explaining Concerns of ASEAN Countries over the China–ASEAN Free Trade Zone)’, MA thesis, Tsinghua University, June 2010, p. 1.

42 Jenny Clegg, China's Global Strategy: Towards a Multi-Polar World, p. 115.

43 Buszynski, Leszek, ‘ASEAN, the Declaration on Conduct, and the South China Sea’, Contemporary Southeast Asia, 25, 3 (2003): 354CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ho Khai Leong, ‘Rituals, Risks and Rivalries: China and ASEAN in the Coming Decades’, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 10, No. 29, 2001, p. 686.

44 Guanghou, Wang, Lengzhanhou Zhongguo Dongmeng zhanlue guanxi yanjiu (Post-Cold War China-ASEAN Strategic Relations) (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe, 2008), p. 171.Google Scholar

45 Ibid., p. 170.

46 Ibid., p. 170.

47 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, http://www.aseansec.org/13163.htm.

48 ‘Landmark Pact on Spratly up for Signing’, The Manila Times, 4 November 2002, cited in Wu Shicun, On the South China Sea Dispute, p. 265.

49 ‘China Enters the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Deepens Mutual Trust with ASEAN’, 26 October 2007, http://www.china.com.cn/economic/zhuanti/dm/2007–10/26/content_9128905.htm.

50 US AP, Manila Cable, 3 April 2004, in Zheng Zemin, Nanhai wenti Zhong de Daguo Yinsu (Great Power Elements of the South China Sea Issue), p. 85.

51 Wu Shicun, On the South China Sea Dispute, p. 121.

52 Sun Xuefeng, The Delimma of China's Rise, p. 162.

53 ‘Yang Jiechi Attends China–ASEAN Foreign Minister's Meeting’, 23 July 2008, http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008–07/23/content_8754291.htm.

54 http://www.senate.gov.ph/republic_acts/ra%209522.pdf.

55 ‘President Signs Territorial Baseline Law, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Issues Strong Opposition and Serious Protest’, 12 March 2009, http://ph.china-embassy.org/chn/flbxw/t541835.htm.

56 Li Ran and Chang Liming, ‘Vietnam Appoints Chairman of the Xisha Islands to “Declare Sovereignty”’, 27 April 2009, http://world.people.com.cn/GB/9200831.html.

57 ‘President Signs Territorial Baseline Law, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Issues Strong Opposition and Serious Protest’, http://ph.china-embassy.org/chn/flbxw/t541835.htm.

58 ‘Speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ma Chaoxu Holds Routine Press Conference’, 12 May 2009, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/gxh/tyb/fyrbt/jzhsl/t561871.htm.

59 ‘China's Fisheries Patrol Boats Travel to the Xisha Islands on the 23rd to Patrol the Beibu Gulf’, http://bt.xinhuanet.com/2009–05/24/content_16613667.htm.

60 ‘Professor Claims Confrontation between Chinese and American Ships is Insignificant Compared to the Collision Incident’, 13 March 2009, http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2009–03-13/1145545342.html.

61 ‘French Media: Impeccable Incident Harms Development of China – US Relations’, 18 March 2009, http://mil.eastday.com/m/20090318/u1a4250101.html.

62 Cai Penghong, Meiguo Nansha zhengce poxi (Analysis of American South China Sea Policy), p. 2.

63 ‘Offering to Aid Talks, US Challenges China on Disputed Islands’, 24 July 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/world/asia/24diplo.html.

64 ‘Joint Statement of the 2ND US– ASEAN Leaders Meeting’, 24 September 2010, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/09/24/joint-statement-2nd-us-asean-leaders-meeting.

65 ‘The South China Sea: America Shifts from a Neutral Position to High Profile Involvement’, 15 December 2010, http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010–12/15/c_12882125_2.htm.

66 ‘US and Vietnam Stage Joint Naval Activities’, 10 August 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10925061.

67 The US has always been extremely concerned about the increase in China's overSea investments, see Swaine, Michael, America's Challenge: Engaging a Rising China in the Twenty-First Century (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2011), p. 6.Google Scholar

68 Sun Xuefeng, The Delimma of China's Rise, p. 178.

69 Wong, Edward and Bibo, Li, ‘China Hedges Over Whether South China Sea is a “Core Interest” Worth War’, The New York Times, 31 March 2010Google Scholar, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFDE1230F932A05750C0A9679D8B63&&scp=2&sq=China%20%20national%20interest%20%20%20south%20China%20sea&st=cse.

70 ‘Offering to Aid Talks, US Challenges China on Disputed Islands’, 24 July 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/world/asia/24diplo.html.

71 ‘America “Steps Foot” into the Dispute Over the South China Sea’, 4 August 2010, http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001033925.

72 ‘South China Sea Dispute: Vietnam Protests Chinese Harassment of Exploration Vessel’, 28 May 2011, http://www.zaobao.com/wencui/2011/05/taiwan110528a.shtml.

73 ‘China's Largest and Most Advanced Patrol Boat to Travel to China–Vietnam Border to Declare Sovereignty’, 1 August 2011, http://mil.news.sohu.com/20110801/n315064180.shtml.

74 ‘Vietnam Engages in Live Fire Exercise in Waters Off of its Central Coast on June 13’, 14 June 2011, http://news.ifeng.com/mainland/special/nanhaizhengduan/content-3/detail_2011_06/14/6992436_0.shtml.

75 ‘Chief of Staff of Philippines Armed Forces: Position Destroyers in the South China Sea; Filipino Destroyers will not Exceed International Waters’, 20 June 2011, http://www.zaobao.com/special/china/southchinasea/pages/southchinasea110620a.shtml.

76 ‘American Undertakes to Support National Defense of the Philippines; Will Provide it with Arms to Assist Modernization’, 25 June 2011, http://www.zaobao.com/special/china/southchinasea/pages/southchinasea110625.shtml.

77 ‘Japan Makes First Joint Exercise Today in the South China Sea with the US and Australia’, 9 July 2011, http://www.zaobao.com/special/china/southchinasea/pages/southchinasea110709.shtml.

78 ‘Vietnam and the US Call on All Countries to Maintain the Freedom of Shipping in the South China Sea’, 19 June 2011, http://www.zaobao.com/special/china/southchinasea/pages/southchinasea110619.shtml.

79 ‘Despite Strong Chinese Opposition, Three American Carriers Arrive in Danang, Vietnam for Military Exercises’, 16 July 2011, http://www.zaobao.com/special/china/southchinasea/pages/southchinasea110716.shtml.

80 ‘Hillary Clinton Attempts in Vain to use International Law to Contain China; Claims that the South China Sea should be Handled According to Topography’, 24 July 2011, http://world.people.com.cn/GB/15230111.html.

81 ‘Japan and the Philippines Increase Cooperation in the South China Sea’, 28 September 2011, http://www.dfdaily.com/html/51/2011/9/28/672373.shtml.

82 ‘Sino-Vietnamese Joint Declaration’, 15 October 2011, http://world.people.com.cn/GB/15906324.html.

83 For the latest research efforts in this area, see Fangyin, Zhou, ‘Equilibrium Analysis of the Tributary System’, Chinese Journal of International Politics, 4, 2 (2011): 147–78.Google Scholar For the responses to Zhou's efforts, see Yongjin, Zhang and Buzan, Barry, ‘The Tributary System as International Society in Theory and Practice’, Chinese Journal of International Politics, 5, 1 (2012): 3–36Google Scholar; Womack, Brantly, ‘Asymmetry and China's Tributary System’, Chinese Journal of International Politics, 5, 1 (2012): 37–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Nianshen, Song, ‘Tributary’ from a Multilateral and Multilayered Perspective’, Chinese Journal of International Politics, 5, 2 (2012): 155–82.Google Scholar