| ID | 177665 |
| Title Proper | Harmonizing the periphery |
| Other Title Information | China’s neighborhood strategy under Xi Jinping |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Smith, Stephen N |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This paper investigates how Chinese elites understand the proper role of their nation vis-à-vis its ‘periphery’ and how this self-understanding shapes Chinese strategic policy toward neighboring states. It makes two specific arguments. First, after 2012 China began to understand itself as responsible for actively managing and shaping its periphery. Xi Jinping has overseen an evolution in China’s neighborhood strategy that has changed from mere engagement to proactive efforts to shape regional order. Efforts to achieve this goal have come primarily through: institution-building and regional integration via the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, strategic partnerships, normative binding, and developmental statecraft. Second, managing newly emerged power asymmetries between China and its neighbors is now a crucial task of Beijing’s peripheral policy. The emerging China-led regional order relies on norms that are hierarchical, transactional, and reflect status distinctions. Xi Jinping’s neighborhood strategy rests on an asymmetric bargain: respect China’s core interests in exchange for benevolence. |
| `In' analytical Note | Pacific Review Vol. 34, No.1; Jan 2021: p.56-84 |
| Journal Source | Pacific Review Vol: 34 No 1 |
| Key Words | Regional order ; China Foreign Policy ; Hierarchy ; Power Asymmetry ; Peripheral Diplomacy ; Xi Jinping Diplomacy |