China Among Unequals: Asymmetric Foreign Relationships in Asia

551 Pages·2014·3.159 MB·English

by  Brantly Womack

CHINA AMONG
UNEQUALS
Asymmetric Foreign
Relationships in Asia
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CHINA AMONG
UNEQUALS
Asymmetric Foreign
Relationships in Asia
Brantly Womack
University of Virginia, USA
World Scientific
NEW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TAIPEI • CHENNAI
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Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
CHINA AMONG UNEQUALS
Asymmetric Foreign Relationships in Asia
Copyright © 2010 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
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ISBN-13 978-981-4295-27-7
ISBN-10 981-4295-27-2
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Email: [email protected]
Printed in Singapore.
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
Part I. Asymmetric International Relationships 17
Chapter 1. Recognition, Deference, and Respect: 19
Generalizing the Lessons of an
Asymmetric Asian Order
Chapter 2. The United States, Human Rights, and Moral 37
Autonomy in the Post-Cold War World
Chapter 3. Dissecting Soft Power: Attention, Attraction, 61
Persuasion
Chapter 4. The Dilemma of Regional Powers 75
Chapter 5. Democratic Defeatism: Reconsidering the 101
Logic of Asymmetric Wars
Part II. Underpinnings of China’s Foreign Policy 123
Chapter 6. China Between Region and World 125
Chapter 7. Traditional China and the Globalization of 153
International Relations Thinking
Chapter 8. Sustainable International Leadership: 183
Lessons from the Sino–Vietnamese
Relationship, 968–1885
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vi China Among Unequals
Chapter 9. China as a Normative Foreign Policy Actor 213
Chapter 10. Asymmetry Theory and China’s Concept of 253
Multipolarity
Part III. China and the United States 277
Chapter 11. The Brightest House: Civilization and 279
Asymmetry
Chapter 12. The Reality and Limits of American Power 299
Chapter 13. How Size Matters: The United States, China, 309
and Asymmetry
Chapter 14. United States and China’s Rise: Parity and 343
the Accommodation of Civilizations
Part IV. China and Asia 369
Chapter 15. Asymmetric Triangles and the 371
Washington–Beijing–Taipei Relationship
Chapter 16. The United States and Sino–Vietnamese 405
Relations
Chapter 17. Asymmetry and Systemic Misperception: 421
China, Vietnam, and Cambodia during
the 1970s
Chapter 18. China and Southeast Asia: Asymmetry, 459
Leadership, and Normalcy
Chapter 19. Vietnam and China in an Era of Economic 487
Uncertainty
Chapter 20. Korea and Vietnam: Similarities and 511
Differences in their Relationships to China
Bibliography 521
Index 535
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Acknowledgments
It takes an academic village to produce a new theory, and asymmetry
theory is no exception. My family and some of my friends, in particu-
lar Bill Turley, Lowell Dittmer, and Mary and Jamie McConnell, have
been involved from the beginning. My colleagues at the University of
Virginia have been very encouraging, especially Bruce Reynolds, Jeff
Legro, Allen Lynch, Bill Quandt, Helena Cobban, Robert Fatton,
Ruhi Ramazani, Inis Claude, Jim Ceaser, and John Echeverri-Gent.
My students and former students have also been most helpful, includ-
ing Leng Tse-Kang, Paige Johnson Tan, Alice Ba, Nguyen Tuan Viet,
Sophie Richardson, Leu Guanyi, Prashanth Parameswaran, and
Myungsik Ham. Mark Selden has been the stern but supportive editor
of a number of pieces in this volume. The enthusiasm of my neighbors
Joe Orlick and Bob Powell has encouraging. At greater distances,
friendly support continues from Carl Thayer, Ben Kerkvliet, Jon
Unger, and Anita Chan in Australia, Juan Tokatlian and Monica Hirst
in Argentina, Michael Emerson and Nathalie Tocci in Brussels.
Since I am a political scientist writing about history, I have been
particularly anxious about the reception by historians of my ideas, and
particularly grateful for their support. The historians upon whose
backs I stand include Wang Gungwu, John Whitmore, Jack Wills,
Alex Woodside, Chen Jian, Duane Osheim, Mel Leffler, and Evelyn
Rawski. Wang Gungwu, in particular, has been inspirational and
encouraging in every aspect of this project.
The idea of asymmetry theory occurred to me in Asia, and the
institutions and scholars of China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Vietnam,
Thailand, and Korea have been essential contributors to the growth
of these ideas. Just to name a few, Wu Yu-Shan (co-author of
Chapter 15), Qin Yaqing, Feng Shaolei, Liu Debin, Jin Canrong, Liu
Dexi, Shi Yinhong, Gu Xiaosong, Wang Songping, Chung Jae Ho,
vii
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viii China Among Unequals
Ho Hai Thuy, Pham Quang Minh, Do Tien Sam, Dang Dinh Quy,
Ta Minh Tuan, Phuong Luan, and many others.
Last and certainly not least, I am grateful to publishers for
permission to use the following previously published material as the
basis for chapters.
Chapter 1: “Recognition, Deference, and Respect: Generalizing the
Lessons of an Asymmetric Asian Order,” Journal of American East
Asian Relations 16:1–2 (Spring 2009), pp. 105–118.
Chapter 2: “The United States, human rights, and moral autonomy
in the post-Cold War world,” in Robert Fatton and Ruhi Ramazani,
eds., The Future of Liberal Democracy: Thomas Jefferson and the
Contemporary World (London: Palgrave, 2004), pp. 255–270.
Chapter 3: “Dancing Alone: A Hard Look at Soft Power,” Japan
Focus (November 2005), http://www.japanfocus.org/-Brantly-
Womack/1975.
Chapter 4: “Teoría de la asimetría y poderes regionales: los casos de
India, Brasil, y Sudáfrica,” in Juan Tokatlian, ed., India, Brasil y
Sudáfrica: El impacto de las nuevas potencias regionales (Buenos Aires:
Libros de Zorzales, 2007), pp. 15–34.
Chapter 6: “China between Region and World,” China Journal 61
(January 2009), pp. 1–20.
Chapter 8: “Ke chixu de guoji lingdao quan: lai zi 968–1885 nian
Zhong Yue guanxi de jingyan jiaoxun :
68–1885 ,” [Sustainable International Leadership:
Lessons from the Sino–Vietnamese relationship, 968–1885,] Shixue
Jikan 2004:1 (January 2004), pp. 3–14.
Chapter 9: “China as a Normative Foreign Policy Actor,” in
Nathalie Tocci, ed., Who is a Normative Foreign Policy Actor? The
European Community and Its Global Partners (Brussels: Centre for
European Policy Studies, 2008), pp. 265–299.
b931_FM.qxd 4/16/2010 4:16 PM Page ix
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 10: “Asymmetry Theory and China’s Concept of
Multipolarity,” Journal of Contemporary China 13:39 (May 2004),
pp. 351–366.
Chapter 11: “The Brightest House: Civilization and Asymmetry,”
Journal of American Studies of Turkey 17 (Spring 2003), pp. 93–110.
Chapter 12: “Meiguo shili de xianshi yu juxian ,”
[The reality and limits of American power], Jilin Daxue Shehui kexue
Xuebao [Jilin University journal of social
sciences] 2004:1 (January–February), pp. 26–30.
Chapter 13: “How Size Matters: The United States, China and
Asymmetry,” Journal of Strategic Studies 24:4 (December 2001),
pp. 123–150.
Chapter 14: “Zhongguo jueqi yu Meiguo: Quanli chiping yu wen-
ming mohe : ,” [China’s rise and
the United States: power parity and the accommodation of civiliza-
tions], Waijiao Pinglun [Foreign Affairs Review] 6:100
(December 2007), pp. 16–25.
Chapter 16: “The United States and Sino-Vietnamese Relations,”
Japan Focus, 19 January 2008. http://www.japanfocus.org/Brantly-
Womack/2636.
Chapter 17: “Asymmetry and Systemic Misperception: The Cases of
China, Vietnam and Cambodia during the 1970s,” Journal of
Strategic Studies 26:2 (June 2003), pp. 91–118.
Chapter 18: “China and Southeast Asia: Asymmetry, Leadership
and Normalcy,” Pacific Affairs 76:3 (Winter 2003–4), pp. 529–548.
Chapter 19: “Vietnam and China in an Era of Economic Uncertainty,”
The Asia-Pacific Journal 36-2-09 (7 September 2009). http://japanfocus.
org/Brantly-Womack/3214.