Review: China's Assertive Diplomacy in Southeast Asia and Beyond
Beyond wolf warrior diplomacy and assertiveness fears, a new book analyzes the future evolution of China's diplomacy and implications for the region and world.
A new book sheds light on the future evolution of China’s assertive diplomacy in Southeast Asia and beyond.
WonkCount: 1,746 words (~8 minutes)
Review: China's Assertive Diplomacy in Southeast Asia and Beyond
Context
“The Philippines is advised to unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence…if you care genuinely about the 150,000,” China’s envoy to the Philippines said last year in remarks seen as a threat to overseas Filipino workers in Taiwan1. For regional watchers, this is just one instance of how China’s diplomats have been a key conduit of Beijing’s influence in the Indo-Pacific amid debates around the nuances of “assertiveness” and “wolf warrior” diplomacy. In Southeast Asia, the assertive and cooperative ends of Beijing’s influence are regularly at play and featured on ASEAN Wonk, from aggressive moves impacting South China Sea claimants like Vietnam to praise for perceived pro-China rhetoric by regional leaders including Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim (see graphic below on recent developments). More generally, such instances are becoming more common amid Beijing’s rising presence: by one count, China has surpassed the United States in diplomatic presence in parts of the Indo-Pacific.2
Select Recent Assertive and Cooperative Developments in China’s Southeast Asia Presence
A new book titled China’s Rising Foreign Ministry by scholar Dylan Loh sheds light on the future evolution of China’s assertive diplomacy in Southeast Asia and the world3. The book analyzes why and how China’s diplomacy is increasingly driving its assertiveness. In doing so, it builds on recent works that go beyond state-centric models of China’s behavior and examine spheres of Beijing’s influence in more depth4. These include some that we have reviewed recently on ASEAN Wonk. China’s Rising Foreign Ministry has five main chapters and a total of 155 pages.
Analysis
China’s Rising Foreign Ministry provides a rich, readable assessment of China’s evolving diplomacy in Southeast Asia and beyond. The book goes beyond blanket characterizations like “assertiveness” and examines the lived experience of diplomacy through dozens of interviews with Chinese diplomats and Asian practitioners as well as data-driven cataloging of Beijing’s behavior from 20095. Episodes range from the foreign ministry’s Twitter usage (banned in China) to influence overseas Chinese abroad to MOFA’s overshadowing of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in aspects of flashpoints like the Sino-Indian border or South China Sea6. The book also weaves in more everyday manifestations of China’s diplomacy that will be familiar to some practitioners. These include high-ranking military members sharing dissenting views on Beijing’s South China Sea position on a private WeChat group as well as controversial questions being scrubbed from the foreign ministry’s press conferences7.
The book also charts out key areas of China’s assertive diplomacy useful to watch in the coming years, with insights relevant to governments, companies as well as researchers and watchers. These include key policy roles, significant practical functions as well as more specific areas (see table below for a snapshot of these realms, and the rest of the “Analysis” section as well as the “Implications” section for insights into what to watch and prospects for the region and the world).
Key Policy Roles, Functions and Areas to Watch in China’s Assertive Diplomacy
