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Plunder and Paradiplomacy: The Corruption of China's Decentralised State in Yunnan Province
- China: An International Journal
- NUS Press Pte Ltd
- Volume 18, Number 2, May 2020
- pp. 77-98
- 10.1353/chn.2020.0017
- Article
- Additional Information
Abstract:
This article conducts an investigation into Yunnan province to study the risks and opportunities associated with two institutional changes that have reshaped contemporary China: the decentralisation of power from the centre to provinces and the emerging agency of provinces in China's increasingly multilayered foreign policy. These changes have enabled Yunnan to develop a bridgehead strategy that positions the province as an economic corridor to the markets of Southeast Asia. While this has succeeded in fostering economic development, it has also created a complex set of transnational links that has contributed to the obstruction of central supervision, enabling local leaders to engage in regionalised corruption on a scale that has outpaced other Chinese provinces.