An Introduction to East Asian Power Politics, in the Constructivist Vocabulary

SJEAA Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs volume 13 | number 1 SPRING 2013 The Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs (SJEAA) is dedicated to addressing compelling issues in East Asia in a manner accessible to a general audience. SJEAA showcases undergraduate and graduate work on East Asia in all academic disciplines form leading universities both in the United States and abroad. Copies of SJEAA are distributed to East Asian studies departments and libraries across the nation. If your department, institution, library or organization is interested in subscribing to SJEAA please contact us at [email protected]. Subscription is free and editions come out once or twice a year. For more details, please visit our website at http://sjeaa.stanford.edu/. SJEAA Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs Executive Board Editor-in-Chief Hye Jin Krista Ryu Deputy Editor-in-Chief Rachelle Han Financial Officer Fang Yi Lin Advisor Michelle Lee Fang Xie Editorial Board Section Leader (China) Yanshuo Zhang Section Leader (Japan) Fang Yi Lin Section Leader (Korea) Rachelle Han SEction Leader (Southeast Asia) Desmond Lim Editors China Michelle Valentine China Crystal Lee Japan Fang Yi Lin Korea Michael Ro Korea Yitao Zhang Southeast Asia Joel Kek Southeast Asia Kylie Goh Southeast Asia Chris Kremer Layout Jasmine Park SJEAA Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs Editors-in-Chief Emeriti Josephine Lau Phillip Y. Lipscy Junko Sasaki Dinyar Patel Victorien Wu Andrew MacDonald Stella Shin Shameel Ahmad Hin Sing Leung Betty Manling Luan Geoffrey Miles Lorenz Katie Salisbury Tsung-Yen Chen Josephine Suh Faculty Advisory Board Gordan Chang History Phillip Y. Lipscy Political Science Jean Oi Political Science Daniel Okimoto Political Science Gi-Wook Shin Sociology Andrew Walder Sociology Special Thanks to Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University SJEAA Table of Contents Greater China Alexis Littlefield 8–18 An Introduction to East Asian Power Politics, in the Constructivist Vocabulary Yujeong Yang 19–30 Facilitating Collective Labor Dispute in China Xiaoping Wang 31–44 Double Pitfalls for “New Woman” Nora Castle Remaking Mao 45–57 Mark K. Snakenberg 58–68 Towards Complex Interdependence Japan Mycah Brazelton-Braxton 70–78 The Bodily Form and its Relationship to Fascist Ideology Brian Mayer 79–89 A Constructivist Approach to FDI in Japan Korea Jane Kim 91–99 A Globalization of Korean Food Fei Yan 100–107 Nationalist Movements in Korea and Taiwan Natalie Eun-Hyeong Kim 108–120 Anti-Americanism in South Korea: Redefining a Strategic Alliance Katelyn Radack 121–132 Benefits in the Job Market of Attending an Elite University Book Reviews Kevin Blachford 134–135 Henry Kissinger’s Views on China Hang Lin 136–138 The Age of Confucian Rule SJEAA Greater China Power Politics An Introduction to East asian Power Politics, in the Constructivist Vocabulary This research introduces the viability of an East Asian region from the perspective of International Alexis Littlefield Relations. Scholars who emphasize cooperation (e.g. economic or security) and shared norms Feng Chia University among Asian neighbors will typically apply a liberal institutionalist or a social constructivist approach. Those who doubt the depth and authenticity of regionalization speak in terms of structural power politics (e.g. state survival) and strategic balancing. This paper critically examines Asian regionalism using the language of social constructivism and not political realism. Ideas, identities, percep-tions and behaviors are prioritized. Material forces (e.g. military force posture, balance of power, geopolitics, natural resource allo-cation, economic leverage and coercion etc.) are of less concern except to the degree they influence identity. Particularly, China’s behavior and interests will have the greatest impact on the viability of the development of East Asian norms and a shared regional identity. Key Words: International Relations Theories, Social Constructiv-ism, Regionalism, East Asia, China INTRODUCTION the state. Such is the case with some Europeans who, This article begins with a defense of the premise for instance, may see themselves as European first that the region of East Asia, with the state as primary and Luxembourgish or Dutch second. These citizens agent or actor in the region, is a feasible research share a common European identity (and its cultural and subject. The article is followed by a discussion of the political connotations) that transcends their national theoretical approaches (i.e. Realism, Liberalism, and identity and this is what is meant by regional identity. Constructivism) to the regionalization, or lack thereof, Further, states’ self-perceptions as national or regional of East Asia by applying the Constructivist approach. are dynamic and not fixed. Identity and interest are central to the Constructivist In this paper the region under investigation is approach, so in that vein the subject of East Asia’s East Asia which includes the states of Southeast Asia social identity includes a discussion of Confucianism, (ASEAN-10), and Northeast Asia, namely China, nationalism and race upon the regional identity. Political Japan, the two Koreas, and Taiwan, with the greater interests, including hegemonic, economic and security focus upon Northeast Asia. East Asia has not succeeded interests, are addressed here. In conclusion, I argue in creating a regional identity in the global community. that China’s current behavior, rather than regional For example, Samuel S. Kim recognizes that despite norms (i.e. formal and informal shared conventions the tremendous literature on regionalism, the lack of that govern state behavior within a region), largely literature on East Asia “as a distinct region is striking:” shapes East Asian identify. Specifically, a powerful within Asia “only Southeast Asia receives recognition China could and should be a boon for the region, but as a region” because of the 1967 creation of ASEAN.1 its chauvinistic politics, territorial ambitions and hard The above categorization of East Asia is a “closed” security dilemmas overshadow the economic benefits as opposed to “open” definition that includes China and of a prospering China. its neighbors as well as other actors with great influence UNDERTAKING REGIONAL IDENTITY in this region, especially the US. In other words, this is A region, for the purpose of this article, is a specified a “closed” approach summed up by Wang Jisi: “What geographic area made up of political states. However, is Asia? (It is) China and its neighbors.”2 This article over time and after positive intra – regional interactions applies a closed approach and there are four reasons and cooperation, the people of a given region may why and the US is excluded from this analysis despite begin to identify first with the region and then with its economic, political and security influence in the Spring 2013 8 Alexis Littlefield region: research subject and therefore cannot be compared with Firstly, this is an attempt to understand the region any other region. In spite of the shortcomings of IR as a platonic model with the US variable removed from theories at understanding the dynamics of East Asia, they the analysis. The US is a key player in Asian security are helpful for explaining some aspects of East Asian architecture, but this article is not an explanation of said interstate relation. This article is hybrid scholarship that architecture but seeks to understand how Asian states includes what may be described as “context-sensitive within the region see themselves and their neighbors. social science” and “disciplinary area studies.”4 The Secondly, the US, despite its many Asian immigrants following section covers the three big approaches of and multiculturalism, it is not an Asian country - not International Relations (IR): Realism, Liberalism and geographically or otherwise. Thirdly given China’s Constructivism. size, proximity, and historical and cultural interaction Realism with its neighbors, China’s behavior in the region has Realists, particularly Neorealists, maintain states more impact for better or worse. Finally, relative to the seek power maximization and survival under a system long term historical picture of Sino-regional relations, of anarchy (i.e. no authority higher than that of the the US is a new comer to the region and some would state). As a result states will band together to balance argue its influence may be in decline - especially if against the perceived threats of other states. States China successfully manages its domestic growth and see each other as competitors seeking relative power reform, foreign relations, historical grievances, and maximization. This was the predominant view of IR territorial interests with its neighbors in the twenty-first scholars during the Cold War but is now on par with century. Now that the region has been defined, let us liberalism and losing some ground to Constructivism.5 turn to the role of the state. Liberal Institutionalism UNDERTAKING STATE AS AGENT A Liberal view celebrates the extent of cooperation States are those political territories occupied by between the East Asian states, especially as a people with their own government. This article institutionalized in regional groupings such as ASEAN employs a statist (i.e. state as primary agent or actor) Plus Three (APT), and their deepening economic approach to the region. This is because in East Asia the interdependence which may eventually frame a modern sovereign state is the prime unit for facilitating meaningful system of cooperative security. However, interaction between economic, political, and civil units the Liberal approach has failed to explain why economic within its borders. The state as actor debate revolves interdependence between East Asian states has not around the degree of state autonomy vis-à-vis the power smoothed over the distrust between or among them, and of non-state actors (e.g. NGOs, MNCs, organized fails to provide evidence for the hypothesis that thick crime and any other entity established outside of state economic interdependence prevents war rather than control yet has some bearing on global politics) and some other factor.

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