ABSTRACT
Bilateral relations between nations today are no longer confined at the national level; neither are the national governments sole players in forging and nurturing these relationships. This chapter examines bilateral relations between Asia’s two most powerful nations at the level of sub-national government (SNG),1 relationships which have recently become prominent and evidence suggests that they are growing and likely to play an important role in shaping the future course of relationships between the two nations. Particularly from the late 1980s, connections between, and facilitated by, government actors from other than the central governments of both nations, have flourished. Indeed, these relationships have spawned a range of other relationships, particularly commercial and many beyond any level of government, that have helped to strengthen and extend the links between people from the two nations. Yet this development at the sub-national government level has drawn little scholarly attention.2 Despite their increasing significance in the bilateral relationship and the important consequences for policy management on both sides, sub-national governments have been overlooked generally as independent international actors and as initiators of official and semi-official connections between these two powerful Asian neighbours.
