Domestic Progress, Asymmetric Interaction and System Change: China, ASEAN and Asian Cooperation

　　Abstract: On the basis of changes in China-ASEAN relations and in the Asian cultural system, this paper attempts to establish a theoretical model of regional cultural system transition. It argues that there are two processes driving transitions in regional culture: first are domestic changes in great powers within the region, with changes in domestic perspectives and domestic institutions being particularly critical; second are interactions between great powers and other states in the region, including both the contents and the nature of these interactions. The paper assumes that changes in domestic political, economic and social processes result in changes in the ways in which great powers interact with other states and in their status as great powers within such interactions. What is most important in this process are changes in the institutions which guide behavior between regional powers and other states within the region. As a great power rises, if it is able to engage in asymmetric interactions with other powers, and can guide such interactions such that it can begin to turn the distribution of benefits in its favor, mutual recognition can be established between the states. This will permit institutionalization of a new process within the regional system, promoting a regional cultural system of peacebuilding and cooperation. This paper tests these assumptions using the case of China and its relations with ASEAN and East Asia.

　　Author: Wei Ling is an Associate Professor in the Center for Asian Studies at the Foreign Diplomacy Institute