Assessing Effects of China's Party Diplomacy vis-à-vis Southeast Asia: Ideas, Interests, and Controversies

IF 1.3 3区社会学 Q2 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Asian Perspective Pub Date : 2023-09-01 DOI:10.1353/apr.2023.a912746

Yao Wen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Abstract:China's party diplomacy—the Communist Party of China's own international outreach—has become an important component of China's foreign relations. Given Southeast Asia's strategic importance, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has been proactively engaging political elites in the region. What are the immediate changes party diplomacy brings about for Southeast Asian actors, and how do they translate into long-term consequences? I propose a three-pronged framework to explore the local effects of China's party diplomacy, respectively, concerning exposure to ideas, the pursuit of interests, and the emergence of controversies. Drawing on a novel dataset and using illustrative cases of Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, and Malaysia, I show how the effects are contingent on the agency of Southeast Asian actors and domestic dynamics in each country. From the standpoint of Southeast Asian elites, engagement with the CPC could bring about ideational and material benefits, while domestic pushback, if any, is easy to deflect and tends to fade away over time. China's party diplomacy is best described as a moderate status quo multiplier that leads to noticeable changes without triggering structural shifts.

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评估中国政党外交对东南亚的影响：理念、利益与争议

摘要：中国的政党外交--中国共产党自身的国际拓展活动--已成为中国对外关系的重要组成部分。鉴于东南亚的战略重要性，中国共产党一直在积极主动地与该地区的政治精英接触。政党外交给东南亚国家带来了哪些直接变化，又如何转化为长期影响？我提出了一个三管齐下的框架来探讨中国政党外交对当地的影响，分别涉及思想接触、利益追求和争议的出现。我利用一个新颖的数据集，并通过越南、新加坡、缅甸和马来西亚的说明性案例，展示了中国政党外交的影响如何取决于东南亚行为体的作用以及每个国家的国内动态。从东南亚精英的角度来看，与中国共产党接触可以带来意识形态和物质利益，而国内的反弹（如果有的话）则很容易转移，并随着时间的推移逐渐消失。中国的政党外交最适合被描述为一种温和的现状倍增器，它能带来明显的变化，但不会引发结构性转变。

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来源期刊

Asian Perspective INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-

CiteScore

1.80

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： ASIAN PERSPECTIVE is the peer-reviewed social sciences journal of world/comparative politics of the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University. Published quarterly, Asian Perspective has devoted its pages to critical analysis of the global, regional, and transnational issues affecting Northeast Asia for over 25 years. Bringing cogent, thought-provoking examination of the significant developments in Asia and the world as they unfold to the scrutiny of its readership, Asian Perspective continues to promote a healthy exchange of ideas among scholars, students, and policymakers.