Japan and China are competing for infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia. They have both launched their own international infrastructure development strategies: China’s Belt and Road Initiative...Show moreJapan and China are competing for infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia. They have both launched their own international infrastructure development strategies: China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Japan’s Partnership for Quality Infrastructure and Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy. This paper will investigate how China and Japan frame their respective strategies and how they occupy different roles in Southeast Asian infrastructure development.Show less
The 16+1 Cooperation is meant to function as a multilateral and economic platform for China and sixteen Central and Eastern European countries. Nevertheless, there has been some issues addressed...Show moreThe 16+1 Cooperation is meant to function as a multilateral and economic platform for China and sixteen Central and Eastern European countries. Nevertheless, there has been some issues addressed towards the format regarding the political agenda of China in the post-communist region of Europe. The perception about the Chinese presence in Central and Eastern Europe differs to the extent of the angle under which the 16+1 Cooperation is perceived. Both the 16+1 Cooperation and the Chinese presence in Central and Eastern Europe, are studied under two predominant paradigms. Equally, these models constitute opposing perceptions surrounding China, in which China is either presented as a threat or as an opportunity. The EU is mostly concerned about the Chinese hidden political goal behind the 16+1 Cooperation. Chinese stance is mostly established on the premise of economic opportunity for the infrastructural development of the region. The two opposing stances are supplemented with the third one, in which the region itself is either positioned under the threat paradigm (the stance of the EU) or opportunity paradigm (the stance of China). There is no clear answer whether Chinese presence constitutes threat or opportunity. Yet the multiple perspective approach is inevitable in constructing the complexity of the world, interpreting the perceptions about China.Show less
