Abstract

Abstract:

China was hostile to Southeast Asia in the 1950s and 1960s, but China’s relations of political economy with its neighbors in the south have changed since the early 1980s, an evolution that has accelerated since the early 1990s. This article argues that the relationship is being pushed forward by three policy initiatives that started in the early 1980s: the open-door policy, the good-neighbor policy, and the go-global strategy. It uses four indicators to examine China’s changing relations with Southeast Asia: exchanges of visits among high-level officials, trade and investment, tourism, and China’s linkages with ASEAN. The argument here is that China has changed its political economy not only with individual countries in Southeast Asia but also with the entire region. The article concludes that China’s accord with Southeast Asia will continue if China sticks to its current policies toward this region.

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