This Masters’ thesis aims to answer the question of how China employs the pursuit of equitably distributed economic growth within the Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster (or shorter: Cheng-Yu cluster)...Show moreThis Masters’ thesis aims to answer the question of how China employs the pursuit of equitably distributed economic growth within the Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster (or shorter: Cheng-Yu cluster) in promoting the cluster in East Asian international production networks (IPNs). A proper and efficient division of labor across multiple locations – when well managed and guided by the government – factors significantly in the success of the city cluster, which is part of IPNs. This thesis intends to contribute to earlier research on the cluster by looking at the geographic differences in terms of development within the cluster. I conclude that the Chinese government envisions the promotion of the Cheng-Yu cluster in East Asian IPNs through the pursuit of equitably distributed economic growth by way of assigning roles to specifically defined cities, but the allocation of roles is very broad and a more well-defined distribution of roles may benefit the equitability of growth distribution and the effective incorporation in IPNs.Show less
China’s contemporary foreign policy project, dubbed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or the ‘New Silk Road’, which was initiated in 2013 to foster a ‘community of shared destiny’ through...Show moreChina’s contemporary foreign policy project, dubbed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or the ‘New Silk Road’, which was initiated in 2013 to foster a ‘community of shared destiny’ through infrastructure development, has remained a prominent contemporary issue for Southeast Asian states that are situated in one of China’s key geographical areas of interest for the BRI’s designated ‘Maritime Silk Road’. While on the one hand presenting itself as a solution to the region’s infrastructural challenges through investments, it simultaneously continues to clash with a number of states within Southeast Asia over territorial disputes within the South China Sea (SCS). In this sense, what China has gained in means of hard power, it can be argued to lack in soft power within the current regional order – a power vacuum that the implementation of developments under the banner of the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) component of the BRI could potentially resolve for China. In attempting to find an answer to the question “How has China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road affected state cohesion within Southeast Asia?”, a comparison has been made between five claimant states within the SCS region (the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam) to see how each of their positions has potentially been altered in light of China’s MSRI, and thereby ultimately their overall cohesion. By applying a congruence analysis, the explanatory power of realist and constructivist theoretical approaches have been tested to determine which variables have been decisive in foreign policy decision-making for the observed cases. While the variables related to realism have been concluded to be more decisive for a decrease in cohesion amongst the claimant states for the time being, developments under the banner of the BRI as well as the SCS disputes are in constant flux. Therefore no definitive conclusion can be drawn yet with respect to the direction of regionalism in Southeast Asia and the most suitable theoretical explanation thereof.Show less
