ABSTRACT

The People's Republic of China (PRC) has had its greatest success in advancing Chinese interests and influence in the post-Cold War period in the neighbouring areas of the Korean Peninsula and Southeast Asia: its own ‘backyard’. Chinese economic exchanges and adroit diplomacy, backed by steady expansion of military power, propelled China into an increasingly prominent and favourable position in both areas. Prevailing circumstances point to a continuation of recent moderate and pragmatic Chinese approaches to neighbouring areas, with China refraining from more assertive Chinese policies that were prevalent throughout the first decades of the PRC.