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CAO Yunhua

【Abstract】International and area studies are becoming an explicit science, and practical activities such as China’s reform and opening up and gradually moving to the center of the world stage have directly spawned this new interdisciplinary discipline. The needs of reality provide fertile soil for the birth and development of this emerging interdisciplinary discipline, and this discipline will provide answers and references for the practical needs of China to move to the center of the world stage. By reviewing and summarizing the history and current situation of China’s international and area studies in Southeast Asia over the past 40 years, this paper attempts to provide some useful references to the future development of China’s Area Studies.

【Keywords】Southeast Asian Studies; Area Studies; International and Area Studies; Chinese Characteristics; Interdisciplinary

【Author】CAO Yunhua, Distinguished Professor, Research Institute of Global Chinese and Area Studies, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, China

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BI Shihong

【Abstract】Japanese academic community believes that nature and ecology have shaped Southeast Asian countries and societies to a certain extent. The most important thing is to clarify the scope of the region and pay attention to its integrity and Southeast Asian studies’ multi-layered and decentralized nature. Accordingly, the Japanese academic community continues to explore research paradigms different from those in Europe and the United States, attaches importance to the integration of East and West, and promotes continuous development of Southeast Asian studies through interdisciplinary paradigms. Japan’s Southeast Asian studies strive to eliminate political interference and promote the organic integration of natural sciences and humanities and social sciences, demonstrating the integrity, multi-layered and decentralized nature of Southeast Asia. However, the comprehensive Southeast Asian studies in the Japanese academic community are also facing challenges such as “facts or theory”, oppositions among disciplines, and how to connect their studies with the realities of Southeast Asian countries, and the research results have not yet been achieved internationally.

【Keywords】Japan; Southeast Asian Studies; Interdisciplinary; Comprehensive; Regional Concepts

【Author】BI Shihong, Professor, Institute of Belt and Road Studies, Yunnan University, Kunming, China

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(Myanmar)WU Qingxiang

【Abstract】Since World War II, Southeast Asia countries have faced Varying degrees of challenges of ethnicity, religion, and ideology in the process of establishing modern nation-states. Among them, Myanmar is one of the most representative countries. More than 70 years since Myanmar’s independence in 1948, the civil war has not been quelled. At the same time, there were 4 military coups and 3 constitutions were issued. The process of the constitution-making and content is an excellent perspective to understand the construction process of Myanmar’s modern nation-state. Based on the perspective of political constitutional science, this article combines the methods of constitutional sociology and constitutional hermeneutics, and interprets the process and content of the 3 constitutions from actors, social relations and institutional levels. The ideological changes behind the construction of the modern nation-state have thus taken place.

【Keywords】Myanmar; Constitution; Political Constitutional Science; Nation-State; Civil War; Ethnic Relations

【Author】(Myanmar)WU Qingxiang, Postdoctoral Researcher, Center for Southeast Asian Studies/ School for Southeast Asian Studies, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

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WANG Zhen

【Abstract】The current sub-regional cooperation in the Indochina Peninsula presents the complex characteristics of multi-level and multi-field overlapping. Different from the analysis perspectives of extra-region and major powers in the previous regional studies, this paper takes Thailand as an object of analysis to sort out the evolution of Thai regionalism and its attempts to lead sub-regional cooperation from the perspective of small and medium-sized. Thailand has always held the aspiration to become the sub-regional center of the Indochina Peninsula because of its historical perception and economic strength. In general, Thailand’s regional cooperation policy has two different paths: participation and leadership. Quadrangle Economic Cooperation and Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy are important vehicles for Thailand to try to establish itself as a regional center. Thailand’s regional cooperation mechanism centered on the Indochina Peninsula sub-region has a “mandala” structure. Thailand’s role in regional cooperation and its quest for leadership reveals the complexity of interaction at the sub-regional cooperation levels in Indochina Peninsula, also remind China to pay attention to the needs of Thailand’s status claims in the Indochina Peninsula in the process of promoting the “Lancang-Mekong Cooperation”.

【Keywords】Thailand; Regionalism; Indochina Peninsula; Sub-Regional Cooperation; Lancang-Mekong Cooperation

【Author】WANG Zhen, Research Fellow, Institute for World Peace and Development, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China

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LI Chunxia & ZHANG Zeyu

【Abstract】The UN Security Council (UNSC) is regarded as “the arena for acting out power relationships by the great powers”. The permanent members of the UNSC take a dominant position because of their Veto Power. However, the non-permanent members not only have a restrictive effect on the permanent members, but also play an important role in the daily operation of the UNSC. As a non-permanent member of the UNSC from 2020 to 2021, Vietnam not only actively integrates into the international community, successfully promotes cooperation between ASEAN and the United Nations, but also cleverly embeds the South China Sea issue on the UN platform to promote the realization of its interests. This article argues that in its non-permanent membership, Vietnam has exercised the institutional power conferred by international mechanisms and the relational power derived from its network of relations to shape international public opinion preferences and constrain the behavior of others through agenda-setting, pen-holding, collective action and borrowing from major powers. Against the backdrop of accelerated differentiation and restructuring of the world power structure, major powers should pay close attention to the new trends of small and medium-sized countries in multilateral mechanisms. As responsible powers, both China and other major powers should remain highly alert and should manage their differences, create a good communication atmosphere and promote the positive energy of peace and cooperation in international organizations.

【Keywords】Vietnam; Non-Permanent of the UNSC; Multilateral Diplomacy; Institutional Power; Relational Power; South China Sea Issue

【Authors】LI Chunxia, Associate Professor, Department of International Politics, University of International Relations, Beijing, China; ZHANG Zeyu, Master Student, Gender and International Relations, University of Bristol, Bristol, U.K.

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LI Ze

【Abstract】Under the background of intensified Sino-US strategic rivalry, Southeast Asian countries are still in a state of periodic swing between China and the United States. Among the four sub regions of the “Indo-Pacific” region, Southeast Asia has the largest strategic rivalry space, among which Vietnam is an important fulcrum country affecting the strategic rivalry trajectory of China and the United States. The structural pressure brought about by the Sino-US strategic rivalry makes Vietnam face a severe strategic choice problem. In analyzing the strategic choices of small and medium-sized countries such as Vietnam in the Asia-Pacific region, the shortcoming of existing studies is that they pay too much attention to the impact of large countries such as China and the United States on small countries, ignoring the agency of small countries and the complex domestic and international factors they face. Combined with the strategic triangle theory and the international relations theory of small countries, this paper puts forward an analytical framework to evaluate the space for small countries to maintain strategic balance among big countries. The factors to be assessed are the structural pressure caused by the strategic rivalry of big countries, the contrast of the influence of big countries on small countries, the domestic political factors of small countries and the available international support and assistance. Through the analysis, it can be found that the four forces affecting Vietnam’s strategic choice are relatively balanced, and Vietnam, China and the United States do not yet have the realistic conditions to turn from the “romantic triangle” to the “marriage triangle”. In order to grasp the development trend of Sino-US strategic competition, it is necessary to conduct a panoramic scan of the multi-dimensional forces faced by important fulcrum countries.

【Keywords】Sino-US Strategic Rivalry; Vietnam; Strategic Balance; Strategic Triangle; the Agency of Small Countries

【Author】LI Ze, Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

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LIN Mei & YE Hao

【Abstract】In the new round of global value chains reconstruction, the electronics and communication equipment manufacturing industries in China and Vietnam occupy an important position. A statistical analysis of the GVC participation, location and RCA index of the electronics and communications equipment manufacturing industry in China and Vietnam shows that from 1995 to 2018, the participation index of Vietnam’s electronics and communications equipment manufacturing industry in GVCs gradually increased and approached that of China, but it had a negative GVC status index and a positive GVC status index for China. From 2010 to 2019, both China and Vietnam have very strong international competitiveness in the export of low value-added electronic products, and Vietnam is even better, while neither side have a strong advantage in the export of high value-added electronics. When further examining the trade complementarity indexes of high value-added electronic products between developed countries and China and Vietnam, it is found that that the trade complementarity between Vietnam and developed economies is much higher than that of China. The division of labor between China and Vietnam in the electronic and communication equipment manufacturing industry is mainly the upstream and downstream relationship rather than the competitive relationship, this is an area where the two countries may strengthen cooperation and enhance their competitiveness in the future.

【Keywords】Electronic and Communication Equipment Manufacturing; Global Value Chains; Vietnam; China

【Authors】LIN Mei, Associate Professor, School of International Relations, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China; YE Hao, Master Student, School of International Relations, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

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LIU Ruonan

【Abstract】Since 2017, the United States and its allies have launched their Indo-Pacific Strategies respectively, and the geopolitical competition between China and the United States has significantly intensified. As the United States has expanded the areas and increased the intensity of competition, China faces increased military security threats, bloc political pressure, and industrial decoupling risks. Therefore, stabilizing and developing relations with Southeast Asian countries will help China ease the pressure of U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy. Against the backdrop of intensified strategic competition, the strategic significance of Southeast Asian countries to China is highlighted in three areas: a security buffer zone, an economic and trade bridge, and a partner of supporting multilateralism. At the same time, the introduction of the Indo-Pacific Strategy has also increased Southeast Asian countries’ concerns about a shift in Sino-U.S. relations from competition to confrontation. Both China and Southeast Asia countries face the pressure to respond to the Indo-Pacific Strategy, and the resulting policy adjustments have had a twofold impact on their cooperation, namely, the need for both sides to take into account each other’s concerns in their political and security interactions and to strengthen their reassurance to the other side, as well as to counterbalance the impact of anti-globalization and protectionism by jointly promoting a framework for regional economic cooperation.

【Keywords】Indo-Pacific Strategy; Sino-US Strategic Competition; China; Southeast Asian Countries; Reassurance; Regionalization

【Author】LIU Ruonan, Associate Professor, School of International Relations, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China