China’s diplomatic strategies in response to economic disputes in Myanmar

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8096480
AutoresDebby Sze Wan Chan (0000-0003-4529-2441, University of Hong Kong, autor correspondente)
Ano2018
Volume20
Fascículo2
Páginas307-336
Data de publicação2018-09-22
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Relations of the Asia-Pacific (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1470-482X • E-ISSN: 1470-4838
EditoraOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/irap/lcy026
OpenAlexW2898954599
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas37

How do societal actors in the host country matter to Beijing’s diplomatic strategies? In the course of political transition in Myanmar, the Myitsone Dam was suspended in 2011, and the China–Myanmar High-Speed Railway was reportedly halted in 2014. Since then, Beijing is said to have adopted public diplomacy in response to these economic setbacks. However, this article finds variations in Beijing’s approaches; Beijing actively engaged with the dam challengers, but not the railway opponents, who offered less of a challenge. Moreover, Beijing tolerated the project’s suspension in the dam case, but ramped up pressure in the railway case by increasing Naypyitaw’s costs of defection. Beijing’s inconsistent diplomatic approaches are attributed to different levels of social opposition observed in the anti-Chinese project movements. As such, Beijing has the propensity to bypass societal actors and pressure Naypyitaw for project continuation if it perceives that social opposition is not a major obstacle in bilateral economic cooperation

Beijing · China · Development economics · Diplomacy · Economic Diplomacy · Economic growth · Economic system · Economics · Economy · Obstacle · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Peacebuilding and International Security · Law