ABSTRACT
Much scholarly attention has focused on how member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have pursued different policies of engagement toward the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the post-Cold War period (see contributions in Johnston and Ross 1999). This chapter will primarily attempt the reverse, namely to explore Beijing’s perceptions and policy initiatives vis-à-vis ASEAN member states. It examines in particular the development of China–ASEAN relations since the height of the financial and economic crisis in late 1997. However, to the extent that it is useful to understand the evolving nature of China–ASEAN relations by also analysing ASEAN member states’ perspective of their ties with the PRC, such analysis will complement the main account. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section seeks to locate PRC–ASEAN relations in East Asia’s dynamic politico-strategic environment and examines why and how Beijing has reassessed ties with governments in Southeast Asia in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC). The second section highlights major points of the joint statements on future co-operation that China signed or issued with all ASEAN member states between early 1999 and late 2000. The significance of these framework agreements is then assessed by analysing the substance of the Sino-Thai and Sino-Indonesian joint statements in more detail in the context of developments in the respective bilateral relationship. The final section examines China–ASEAN relations in the context of the emerging monetary and economic regionalism involving ASEAN and Northeast Asian countries (ASEAN plus Three).
