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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
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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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