China and International Theory: The Balance of Relationships

303 Pages·2019·3.467 MB·English

by  Chih-Yu Shih Et Al

“The authors generate a novel ‘balance of relationships’ theory of interna-
tional relations grounded in practice, self-restraint and bilaterality. BoR
should help US decision makers better understand their Chinese counter-
parts, but the theory is also usefully presented as a general resource availa-
ble to all states that choose to adopt a relational foreign policy.”
— Cameron G. Thies, Arizona State University, USA
“This book courageously establishes an innovative theory that is conceptu-
ally and culturally different from existing Western theories of international
relations. It also provides appealing reinterpretations of the relationships
between China and the United States and between mainland China and
Taiwan.”
— Wang Jisi, Peking University, China
“The temptation when looking beyond ‘Western IR theory’ is to code the
potential contributions of thought that is grounded in experiences outside of
Western Europe and North America in terms already familiar to the main-
stream: as a new ‘ism,’ as support for one or another existing school of IR
thought, or as a completely distinct way of thinking about international af-
fairs that serves as a comprehensive rival. This book avoids that temptation,
producing instead a detailed engagement with dominant Anglophone IR
that is grounded in the Confucian heritage, foregrounding ‘improvised re-
semblance’ as a foreign policy strategy that doesn’t fit neatly of the existing
categories that Anglophone IR thinking provides. The result is a bit disqui-
eting, but for a profound purpose: to explore the tissues of resemblance and
distinction between so-called ‘Chinese’ and ‘Western’ IR, and to perhaps
afford us a better grasp of both.”
— Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, American
University, USA

China and International Theory
Major IR theories, which stress that actors will inevitably only seek to en-
hance their own interests, tend to contrive binaries of self and other and
‘inside’ and ‘outside’. By contrast, this book recognizes the general need
of all to relate, which they do through various imagined resemblances be-
tween them.
The authors of this book therefore propose the ‘balance of relationships’
(BoR) as a new international relations theory to transcend binary ways of
thinking. BoR theory differs from mainstream IR theories owing to two key
differences in its epistemological position. Firstly, the theory explains why
and how states as socially-interrelated actors inescapably pursue a strategy
of self-restraint in order to join a network of stable and long-term relation-
ships. Secondly, owing to its focus on explaining bilateral relations, BoR
theory bypasses rule-based governance. By positing ‘relationality’ as a key
concept of Chinese international relations, this book shows that BoR can
also serve as an important concept in the theorization of international rela-
tions, more broadly.
The rising interest in developing a Chinese school of IR means the BoR
theory will draw attention from students of IR theory, comparative foreign
policy, Chinese foreign policy, East Asia, cultural studies, post-Western IR,
post-colonial studies and civilizational politics.
Chih-yu Shih, the primary author of this book, teaches international rela-
tions theory, anthropology of Knowledge, and cultural studies as National
Chair Professor and University Chair Professor at National Taiwan Univer-
sity. Access to his current research—Intellectual History of China and Chi-
nese Studies—can be found at http://www.china-studies.taipei/ Together, his
writings on IR theory, intellectual history, and ethnic citizenship challenge
familiar social science and humanity categories. His co-authors— Chiung-
chiu Huang (National Cheng-chi University), Pichamon Yeophantong (Uni-
versity of New South Wales, Canberra), Raoul Bunskoek (National Taiwan
University), Josuke Ikeda (Toyama University), Yih Jye Hwang (Leiden
University), Hung-jen Wang (National Cheng-Kung University), Chih-yun
Chang (Shanghai Jiaotong University), and Ching-chang Chen (Ryukoku
University)—have all published critically on Asia in IR in general and on
China, Japan, Taiwan and ASEAN in specific. They have come across each
other through different joint projects involving critical IR, post-Western IR,
homegrown IR, global IR, Asian IR and Chinese IR. Their careers include
professional posts in India, Germany, Thailand, Japan, the US, Taiwan, the
Netherlands, Australia, and China.
Chiung-chiu Huang is Associate Professor at the Graduate Institute of East
Asian Studies, National Chengchi University, Taiwan.
Pichamon Yeophantong is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fel-
low and Senior Lecturer at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy,
Australia.
Raoul Bunskoek is a Ph.D candidate in the Department of Political Science
at National Taiwan University, Taiwan.
Josuke Ikeda is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Human Development,
University of Toyama, Japan.
Yih-Jye Hwang is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Governance and
Global Affairs, Leiden University College, The Netherlands.
Hung-jen Wang is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science,
National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan.
Chih-yun Chang is a Research Fellow at the Department of History,
Shanghai Jiaotong University, China.
Ching-chang Chen is Associate Professor at the Department of Global
Studies, Ryokoku University, Japan.

Worlding Beyond the West
Series Editors: Arlene B. Tickner, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia,
David Blaney, Macalester College, USA and Inanna Hamati-Ataya,
Cambridge University, UK
Historically, the International Relations (IR) discipline has established its
boundaries, issues, and theories based upon Western experience and tradi-
tions of thought. This series explores the role of geocultural factors, institu-
tions, and academic practices in creating the concepts, epistemologies, and
methodologies through which IR knowledge is produced. This entails iden-
tifying alternatives for thinking about the “international” that are more in
tune with local concerns and traditions outside the West. But it also implies
provincializing Western IR and empirically studying the practice of produc-
ing IR knowledge at multiple sites within the so-called “West”.
16 Western Dominance in International Relations?
The Internationalisation of IR in Brazil and India
Audrey Alejandro
17 Islam in International Relations
Politics and Paradigms
Edited by Nassef Manabilang Adiong, Raffaele Mauriello, and
Deina Abdelkader
18 China and International Theory
The Balance of Relationships
Chih-yu Shih et al.
19 Unravelling Liberal Interventionism
Local Critiques of Statebuilding in Kosovo
Edited by Gëzim Visoka and Vjosa Musliu
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com
China and International Theory
The Balance of Relationships
Chih-yu Shih
and
Chiung-chiu Huang
Pichamon Yeophantong
Raoul Bunskoek
Josuke Ikeda
Yih-Jye Hwang
Hung-jen Wang
Chih-yun Chang
Ching-chang Chen
First published 2019
by Routledge
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© 2019 Chih-yu Shih et al.
The right of Chih-yu Shih et al. to be identified as author of
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ISBN: 978-1-138-39050-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-42313-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
Chapter 2 is a rewrite of “Affirmative Balance of the Singapore-
Taiwan Relationship: A Bilateral Perspective on the Relational Turn
in International Relations,” International Studies Review 18(4).
Chapter 3 is a rewrite of “China’s Quest for Grand Strategy: Power,
National Interest, or Relational Security?” Chinese Journal of
International Politics 8(1).
Chapter 7 is a rewrite of “The Rise of China between Cultural
and Civilizational Ratinoalities: Lessons from Four Qing Cass,”
International Journal of Asian Studies 14(1).
Chapter 10 is a rewrite of “International Relations of
Post-hybridity: Dangers and Potentials in Non-Synthetic Cycles,”
Globalizations 14(4).
Chapter 12 is a rewrite of “Re-worlding the ‘West’ in Post-Western
IR: The Reception of Sun Zi’s the Art of War in the Anglosphere,”
International Relations of the Asia Pacific 18(3).
Contents
List of figures xi
List of tables xiii
Preface xv
Introduction: relating China to international relations 1
PART 1
Balance of relationships 15
1 Relationality versus power politics 17
2 Relational policy of small states 37
3 Relational policy of major powers 58
PART 2
Philosophical resources 79
4 Relational ontology 81
5 Buddhist state of nature 102
6 Cyclical view of history 120
PART 3
Processes of BoR 137
7 Cultural memory 139
8 Psychological efficacy 160
9 Institutional style 174