The Significance of Regionalism as an Element of China’s Security and Foreign Policy: The Case of the Tumen River Area Development Project (TRADP) Jaeho Hwang Thesis submitted for PhD in International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, UMI Number: U615240 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615240 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 u r poimCAl S AND u , F '0Z2goB ABSTRACT Since the end of Cold War, processes of regionalisation have developed in a world experiencing globalisation. The Tumen River Area Development Project (TRADP) is an UNDP-initiated multilateral sub-regional scheme for economic cooperation that emerged in 1992 and was institutionalised by the establishment of the Tumen Secretariat in 1995. It is based on ‘North-South’ cooperation as well as a socialist-capitalist division of labour among six neighbouring countries (China, Russia, DPRK, ROK, Mongolia, and Japan), involving certain adjacent areas in the Tumen River region - which serves as a natural border for China, Russia, and North Korea. Arguing that the project has a significance that is more political than economic, the thesis will explore the significance of regionalism as an element of China’s security and foreign policy. China was the project’s most active supporter, from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. This thesis will argue that China developed the Tumen project not only as part of its own pursuit of domestic development, but also in order to take the initiative in regional economic development and to alter the distribution of power in Northeast Asia, in particular, the Korean Peninsula. The thesis will also attempt to explain why China has found it so difficult to bring the project to fruition. The Chinese government did not provide proper infrastructure and give the project high priority in its national development policy. As a result, the project could not be attractive to the private sector, which was to be the major source of international investment. Further, the participating countries were concerned about Chinese motives and the economic and political-security implications of the project for the region. Thus, the project came to be regarded as a political ploy and was treated accordingly. This research hopes to make a contribution in two major ways. One is to understand the characteristics and trends of regionalism in East Asia; and the other is to delineate the scope and limits of China’s seemingly more interdependent, cooperative, and multilateral foreign behaviour since the late 1980s. 2 Table of Contents Title/1 Abstract/ 2 Table of Contents/ 3 List of Figures/ 12 List of Tables/13 Abbreviations/14 Acknowledgements/16 Chapter One. Introduction/18 Introduction/18 Bringing in the two themes of the thesis/ 20 I. Regionalism in international relations/ 22 1. The concern for regionalism in cooperation between states: Theoretical setting/ 22 1.1 Relative versus absolute gains/ 23 1.2 Why cooperation does not arise in most cases/ 24 1.3 When cooperation is possible in specific cases/ 26 1.4 The number of actors/ 27 1.5 The importance of political decisions/ 28 2. The political economy of regionalism: Empirical setting/ 28 2.1 Successful cases of regionalism/ 29 Europe/ 29 North America/ 30 2.2 Unsuccessful cases/31 Central and South Americas/ 31 South Asia/ 31 Middle East and North Africa/ 32 2.3 Asia-Pacific: Test case at trial/ 32 3. A contribution to the study of international relations/ 34 II. Regionalism in China’s foreign policy/ 38 1. Recent study on the TRADP/ 38 1.1 Chinese scholarship/ 3 8 1.2 Non-Chinese scholarship/ 40 2. Defining China’s TRADP strategic objectives/ 42 3. Assessing obstacles to China’s TRADP policy/ 44 4. A contribution to the study of Chinese foreign policy/ 47 5. Methodology/ 50 6. Structure of the thesis/ 52 3 Chapter Two. Regionalism: Theoretical Dimension/ 54 Introduction/ 54 I. Regionalism in theory/ 54 1. Concepts of regionalism/ 55 Regionalisation/ 55 Regional interstate cooperation/ 56 Regional awareness and identity/ 56 2. Theoretical approaches to regionalism/ 57 2.1 Approaches of the four theories/ 57 2.2 Critiques of the four theories / 58 3. East Regionalism/ 59 3.1 Why EU-type regionalism does not exist in East Asia/ 60 3.2 East Asian regionalism/ 62 II. Regionalism in East Asia/ 64 1. Defining Sub-regional Economic Zones (SREZs)/ 65 1.1 Concepts/65 1.2 Modalities/65 1.3 SREZs in East Asia/ 66 SIJORI (Singapore-Johore-Riau)/ 66 GSCEZ (Greater South China Economic Zone)/ 67 NGT (North Growth Triangle)/ 67 EGT (East Growth Triangle)/ 67 Baht Economic Zone/ 68 Mekong River Basin Project/ 68 Yellow Sea and Sea o f Japan Rims/ 68 1.4 Categories of SREZs/ 72 A metropolitan spillover into the hinterland/ 72 Geographically proximate areas with common interests! 72 Joint development o f natural resources and infrastructure! 72 1.5 Classification by initiatives/ 72 2. Objectives of the SREZ/ 73 2.1 Performance legitimacy/73 2.2 Bargaining power/ 73 2.3 Reducing the likelihood of conflict/ 74 2.4 Harmony with higher-level regional organisations/ 74 3. Problems and issues/ 75 3.1 Financial constraint/ 7 5 3.2 Lack of coordination/ 75 3.3 Distribution issues/ 75 3.4 Inter-provincial rivalry/ 76 3.5 Centre-provincial tensions/ 76 3.6 Allotment among countries/ 77 3.7 Differential sovereignty levels: Unclear major players/ 77 4 3.8 Different development preference of each country/ 78 3.9 Incomplete triangle/ 78 3.10 Political sensitivity/78 3.11 Discouragement of economic cooperation at a higher regional level/ 79 4. Why are SUORI and GSCEZ successful when others have failed/ 79 4.1 A comparison of SUORI and the GSCEZ/ 79 4.2 Political commitment: The key success factor of SREZs/ 80 5. The number of actors/ 81 6. Implications for the TRADP/ 82 Chapter Three. The TRADP/ 84 Introduction/ 84 1. A profile of TRADP/84 1.1 Geography of Tumen River area/ 84 1.2 Regional scope of the TRADP/ 85 1.3 Vision and goals/ 88 1.4 Economic complementarities/ 90 Natural resources! 90 Population and labour force! 90 Capital technology! 91 Geographical location! 91 2. The view of the UNDP/ 94 3. TRADP membership and organisations/ 97 Tumen Consultation Commission/97 Tumen Coordination Committee/ 97 National Teams/98 Tumen Secretariat/98 Conclusion/ 104 5 Chapter Four. Regionalism: The Chinese Dimension/ 105 Introduction/ 105 I. Regionalism in China’s foreign economic relations/106 1. China’s intra-regional economic relations/106 1.1 Hong Kong/107 1.2 Taiwan/108 1.3 Japan/108 1.4 South Korea/108 1.5 ASEAN/109 1.6 The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)/109 2. Foreign economic relations of China’s provinces/109 2.1 Guangdong Province/ 110 2.2 Fujian Province/ 111 2.3 Shandong Province/ 111 2.4 Liaoning Province / 112 2.5 Jilin Province/112 2.6 Heilongj iang Province/113 2.7 Yunnan Province/114 2.8 Inner Mongolia Province/114 2.9 Tibet/115 2.10 Xinjiang/115 3. Special Economic Zones (SEZs)/116 3.1 The development history of SEZs/116 3.2 The purpose and functions of SEZs/117 II. China’s foreign policy of interdependence/120 1. Levels of analysing Chinese foreign policy/120 1.1 The IR theorists’ approach/ 120 The realist perspective/120 The liberal perspective/122 The Marxist perspective/122 1.2 A critique of the three perspectives/123 Critique o f realism/123 Critique o f liberalism/124 Critique o f Marxism/124 1.3 The approach of specialists on China/ 125 Historical factor/125 Domestic political factor/126 Ideological factor/126 1.4 A critique of the three factors/127 Critique o f the historical factor/127 Critique o f the domestic political factor/128 Critique o f the ideological factor/128 1.5 Towards synthesis: Realism with ‘Chinese Characteristics’/ 128 6 2. Interdependence as China’s foreign policy choice/130 2.1 Interdependence in Westem literature/130 2.2 The Chinese view of interdependence/132 2.3 Goals of interdependence diplomacy/ 133 2.4 China’s good neighbourliness/135 2.5 Constraints to China’s interdependence due to neighbouring countries’ concern for relative gains/137 3. Sub-regionalism in China’s regional policy/140 3.1. The GMS in Chinese foreign policy/141 3.2 The significance of the TRADP/143 Conclusion/ 14S Chapter Five. The Perspective of Jilin Province/147 Introduction/ 147 I. Evolution of regional development policy: An overview/148 1. Regional development in the Pre-Tiananmen Period (1953-89)/ 148 2. New regional development policy in the Post-Tiananmen Period (1990-)/151 3. Concluding remarks/153 II. The three Northeast provinces/154 1. Background/154 1.1 Geography/154 1.2 Trade/155 1.3 Investment/155 1.4 The development of Northeast China/ 162 1 5 Northeast Phenomenon/ 162 2. Development strategies of the three Northeast provinces/167 Coastal Economic Strip centred at Dalian (Yanbian)/168 Border Economic Development and Opening Strip (Yanbian and Yanjiang)/168 Economic Strip with Harbin-Dalian Railroad as the Axis (Yanxian)/169 Western Resources Development Zone/169 3.