In recent years, China's economic diplomacy has received more attention in the field of International Relations. Some scholars argue that China uses its economic diplomacy in a coercive way, while...Show moreIn recent years, China's economic diplomacy has received more attention in the field of International Relations. Some scholars argue that China uses its economic diplomacy in a coercive way, while other scholars argue against this notion. This thesis discusses China's economic diplomacy with its research question: "What drives China’s economic diplomacy in the case of political disputes in East-Asia?". The thesis examines two disputes between China and its neighbouring countries, Japan and South Korea, in order to research how China employs its economic power. The research is based on three factors that influence how China creates its economic diplomacy; national sentiment, history of the bilateral relations, and bilateral trade. Using process-tracing, the thesis examines these three factors of the THAAD dispute with South Korea and the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute with Japan. The aim of the thesis is to demonstrate that, while national sentiment, previous bilateral relations, and bilateral trade influence China's economic diplomacy, these factors do not influence China’s decision-making equally. The thesis concludes that national sentiment influences the Chinese government the most to use its economic diplomacy coercively.Show less
This paper aims to explore how the Sino-Afghan relationship can be defined in terms of benevolence versus exploitation, and how the non-interference policy plays a role in this relationship. The...Show moreThis paper aims to explore how the Sino-Afghan relationship can be defined in terms of benevolence versus exploitation, and how the non-interference policy plays a role in this relationship. The paper does this through a positivist analysis of three dimensions of the Sino-Afghan relationship: security, economic, and political relations. The concluding paragraph of the thesis states that the findings are in line with the idea of developmentalism.Show less
This thesis explored the role of the Chinese business community during two periods of heightened tension in Sino-Japanese relations, the 2005 history textbook controversy and the 2012 Diaoyu...Show moreThis thesis explored the role of the Chinese business community during two periods of heightened tension in Sino-Japanese relations, the 2005 history textbook controversy and the 2012 Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute. Sino-Japanese relations are often described as having ‘warm’ economic relations, but ‘cold’ political relations. While some scholars argued these relations can coexist without influencing each other, recent studies show that political tensions between China and Japan can also impact economic relations. Because of this, this thesis expected the Chinese business community to attempt to influence the government during periods of heightened Sino-Japanese tension. After an analysis of the voice of governmental actors and the business community in government publications and media sources published around the time of the 2005 and 2012 anti-Japanese protests, this thesis concludes that 1) Chinese businesses attach considerable importance to Sino-Japanese political disputes and in some cases attach more importance to these disputes than financial gain, 2) There is no clear evidence that public attempts to influence the government were made during these two periods.Show less
The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) growing economic power has been frequently linked with its growing political and military power. Academic articles and Indian newspapers interpret China’s...Show moreThe People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) growing economic power has been frequently linked with its growing political and military power. Academic articles and Indian newspapers interpret China’s Maritime Silk Road (MSR) policy in threatening and in a non-threatening ways. The dominant discourse interprets the MSR from realist (strategic competition) and liberalist (economic cooperation) perspectives. However, the picture is not as clear-cut as it seems: the literature lacks a constructivist and poststructuralist approach. This paper attempts to fill this gap and considers the study of media representations as an important tool for understanding international relations and the promotion of foreign policy in India. It uses a poststructuralist discourse analysis as a method in the case study on the ‘China threat’ and MSR discourse in four online Indian newspapers. In line with French poststructuralist Foucault, it demonstrates the importance of discourse, identity, knowledge and power. The discursive construction of China as Other in the Indian media is based on historical identity formations. Identity is at the heart the ‘China threat’ discursive foundations: the ‘String of Pearls’ (SOP), India’s neighborhood, China-Pakistan relations and the ongoing Sino-Indian border dispute. In representing the ‘truth’ about the MSR as a future threat to India, the Indian media fails to address China’s participation in global anti-piracy missions. The ‘China threat’ discourse is produced and reproduced for India to domestically implement a strong strategic IOR policy, to invest in the army, and transnationally to deepen diplomatic ties with neighboring IOR countries and to establish a security alignment with the US and Japan.Show less
