This field seminar examines historic regional trends between China and Southeast Asia and analyzes how China’s plans for the economic development of southwestern China and economic integration strategies with states in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) empowers stakeholders and creates cross-border issues with regional implications. The Greater Mekong Subregion is comprised of states in the Mekong river basin: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Since the end of the Cold War and the settlement of the Cambodian Conflict, China has developed bilateral and multilateral agreements with GMS states that include infrastructure and trade development plans and developed a foreign policy that promises a peaceful rise in the region. While China watchers and theorists ponder the question of China’s future role in world affairs, China’s GMS plans provides direct insight to a rising China’s regional strategies.
These strategies included the creation of free trade zones on the borders with Vietnam and Myanmar, promotion of free trade agreements with all ASEAN countries as well as consideration of a new free trade region known as ASEAN+China. At the same time, China is linking its infrastructure with its neighbors by building highways and water routes for the promotion of interregional trade. Starting in the mid-1990’s, China has built large-scale dams on the upper Mekong River which have created real and potential social, economic, and policy issues in countries downstream. The response to China’s plans from individual states and multilateral institutions such as ASEAN and the Mekong River Commission has varied from lukewarm to enthusiastic; however, the ASEAN community has not gathered a concerted response to China’s rise and strategies.
The first three weeks of this course provide introduction to major regional issues and a historical overview of regional interaction and cooperation. Special emphasis is placed on examining the colonial and Cold War era and the nationalist trends that emerged from these eras in China and Southeast Asia. The second portion of the course provides a theoretical overview to issues surrounding China’s rise, regionalism and international trade and introduces relevant cross-border issues as case studies for examination. The second portion of the course also takes a deep look at motivations and details for China’s plans for the region. Students will meet with Chinese officials, NGOs, and commercial stakeholders in Yunnan province who influence regional development policy. The final two weeks of the program will be conducted in a mobile learning format in a two Southeast Asian countries (Vietnam and Laos, Thailand and Laos, Burma and Thailand). In these countries, students will engage with government and non-government stakeholders, both native and Chinese, who are empowered or disaffected by recent trends in regionalism.
Prerequisites:
None
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
Develop a historical framework of how GMS states have interacted with each other in the pre-colonial, colonial, Cold war, and post-Cold War eras.
Develop a framework of competing regionalism theories and debate over the effects regional cooperation, economic integration, and infrastructure development.
Conduct first-hand analysis of the impact of China’s economic and political strategy for integrating with Southeast Asia and provide insight to a rising China in world affairs.
Identify and interact with regional and governmental and non-governmental stakeholders through analysis and discussion of the Chinese diaspora, transboundary ethnic groups, multi-lateral institutions, businesses and academic institutions, and ministerial and local level government officials.
Method of presentation:
The course will be a five credit, 16 week field seminar comprised of introductory lectures during orientation, 2 weeks (16 hours) of historical introduction to regionalism in SEA and China followed by 10 weeks (2 hours each week) of discussion seminars. Field study will comprise a substantial portion of the course, providing students with first-hand observation and participation opportunities. Readings are comprised of secondary research on regional development in China and Southeast Asia as well as publications by institutions visited during the course. The final two weeks of the course will be conducted in two countries in Southeast Asia.
Required work and form of assessment:
In-class participation (15%).
Quiz (10%): Quiz on basic knowledge of the geography and issues surrounding China and Southeast Asian development.
SWOT Analysis of North-South Economic Corridor (8-10pp) (15%): Students will work in small groups to conduct a SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunity-Threat) analysis of the ADB’s North South Economic Corridor project. Students are encouraged to think outside of the framework of the NSEC material provided and incorporate ideas, issues, and challenges discussed through other materials introduced in the class. The SWOT analysis will then be turned into an action plan to be used in the final regional simulation. Students groups will submit an 8-10 page write up of their analysis.
Field trip presentations (10% total) Students will present analytical and critically processed descriptions of sites visited during the 2-week field trip to Southeast Asia. Presentation sites will be assigned by the instructor and each student will present at two sites for a 5% final grade on eac presentation. Presentations should be for 7-10 minutes. Presentation notes (2-3 pp) will be submitted in individually and presentations will be given to the student group at large.
Impact analysis of Xiaowan and Manwan Dam projects (20%): Students work together to produce an impact analysis of the Xiaowan and Manwan dams project by compiling recent local and downstream data and interviewing stakeholders in China who are affected by the dam project. This is a three round simulation conducted online; each round’s response is expected to be 800-1000 words.
Regional simulation (30%) – Students working individually or in small groups will represent a country or multilateral group in the Greater Mekong Subregion and react to a series of simulated regional events. Students, based on knowledge economic development plans and regional relations will develop a solution to those events and present that solution in a final course presentation. Assessment will be based on the feasibility of those plans and ability of the representative student groups to work together on a solution to the simulation. A large portion of the presentation will focus on regional cooperation, discussion and analysis of the GMS North-South Economic Corridor and analysis and design of trade zone/agreements between GMS states. Students submit write-ups of their presentations and a final reflection totaling 15 pages per student.
Attendance policy: Attendance to all classes and field study trips is mandatory for the completion of the course. Each unexcused absence will count for a deduction of one-third of a student’s final letter grade.
content:
Week 1 Orientation lectures:
Orientation lecture 1: Introduction to the region, issues and challenges
Orientation lecture 2: Ethnicity in Dali and cultural heritage protection
Orientation lecture 3: Environmental protection of Erhai Lake and Cangshan,
Orientation lecture 4: Mekong Dam visit and regional hydropower development discussion
Week 2 Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia: Class 1 Monday Intro to pre-colonial Southeast Asia: Explore post colonial governance models, progression of regional political geography; influence of the Chinese tribute system; Nanzhao Kingdom, Khmer Empire; China-Vietnam
Fitzgerald, Francis. “Fire in the Lake.” Chapters 1-2. Pp 1-71.
Osborne, Milton. The Mekong. Chapters 1-3. Pp 1-59
Class 2 Tuesday Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia: Burma history and historical conflicts between Thailand and Laos.
Thant Myint-U. Chapters 1-5. Pp 1-106
Askew, Mark. Vientiane: Transformations of a Lao Landscape. Chapter 3: Glory to Ruins Pp 43-73.
Class 3 Thursday Colonial period: SEA pre-colonial interaction with the West, Orientalism, Colonial systems; standard of civilization, first waves of globalization;
Thant Myint-U. Chapters 6-8. Pp 107-198
Askew, Mark. Vientiane: Transformations of a Lao Landscape. Chapter 4 “Land of the Lotus Eaters: Vientiane under the French.” Pp 77-110.
Class 4: Friday French Colonialism on the Indochinese peninsula; Origins of the ASEAN Way
Osborne, Milton. The Mekong. Chapters 4-9. Pp 60-176.
Osborne, Milton. Southeast Asia: An Introductory History. Pp 70-111.
Haacke. Introduction and Chapter 1 “Origins of the ASEAN Way” pp 1-31.
Week 3
Class 5 Monday Cold War Era: China and the birth of the UN & post-war Southeast Asia
Kent. Chapter 1. “China and International Organizations.” Pp 33-64
Haacke. Chapter 2. “Post-war origins of the ASEAN way: from estrangement and conflict reconciliation and accommodation” pp32-55.
Haacke. Chapter 3. “ZOPFAN and the ASEAN Regional Forum” pp 56-80
Class 6 Tuesday US-Vietnam war and secret war with Laos (Movie: The Most Secret Place on Earth; Hearts and Minds or Fog of War)
Herring, George C. “American and Vietnam: the Unending War.” Pp 104-119. Foreign Affairs. Winter 1991.
Rollins, Peter C. “The Vietnam War: Perceptions through Literature, Film, and Television.” American Quarterly, Vol 36. Pp 419-432. 1984
Shoemaker, Bruce. “The Legacy of the Secret War.” Pp. 1-19.
Class 7 Thursday Burma’s shift to a military junta and Cambodian conflict (movie: The Killing Fields)
Myint-U, Thant. “River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma.” Chapters 9-12. Pp 199-320.
Haacke Chapter 4. “The Cambodian conflict and the ASEAN way’ pp. 81-111
Class 8: Friday ASEAN and current regional frameworks; new regionalism; multi-track diplomacy; decentralization; growth triangles
Haacke Chapter 6. “The US Challenge to the ASEAN Way.” Pp 139-164
Ikenberry. Conclusion pp 421-439
Plummer. Chapter 9 “ASEAN and US markets.” pp306-337
Case studies: ACTFA, Dams, NSEC, South-China Seas, Sustainable tourism (trip)
Assignments: Map quiz, NSEC SWOT and action plan, dam simulation; regional symposium, travel presentations
Trip: Soft power, regional cooperation, infrastructure development projects, sustainable tourism, Chinese diaspora, relevant domestic issues and challenges; multi-track diplomacy, business to business relationships and NGO development
Trip Readings:
Thant Myint-U. Where China Meets India. Pp 1-161. Farrar, Strauss, Giroux: 2011.
McCoy, Alfred. The Politics of Heroin. Chapter 7: The Golden Triangle. pp 283-386. Lawrence Hill: 2003.
Scott, James C. The Art of Not Being Governed. Chapter 1-5. pp1-177. Yale: 2009.
Asian Development Bank. Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative Report 2006-2011. Pp 1-201
Asian Development Bank. Strengthening Sustainable Tourism. Pp 1-108
Development Scenarios in the Lower Mekong Basin. Mekong River Commission. 2010
Social Atlas of the Lower Mekong Basin. Mekong River Commission. 2010
Impacts of climate change and development on Mekong flow regimes First assessment. Mekong River Commission. 2009
Suryadinata. Chapter 2. “The Emergence of China's Economic Power and Its Implications for Chinese Businesses in Southeast Asia” by Sarasin Viraphol
Hock 12. “China's Aid to Southeast Asia” by Zhang Haibing
Askew, Mark. Vientiane: Transformations of a Lao Space. Chapters 1-2 pp 1-42.
Glassman, Mark. Binding the Mekong. Chapters 3&6.
Sample itinerary for Thailand-Laos trip Bangkok Day 1: Class 1: Guest speaker on Yunnanese Diaspora in Thaliand Day 2: Class 2: US Embassy: US Foreign Policy in Burma Class 3: Regional Environmental Protection and US Foreign Policy Day 3: Class 4: Asian Development Bank’s Burma Approach Class 5: GMS Environmental Programme: Case study, Biodiversity Corridors
Chiang Mai Day 4: Class 6: Local NGO and resource conservation in Northern Thailand and discussion session
Day 5: Class 7:Field trip to Mushroom Research Center Day 6: Class 8: Confucius Institute and exchange with Mae Fa Luang University Chinese language students
Day 7: Class 9: Guest speaker (Dr. Apisom Intralawan) on Ecological Economic Development in the GMS, Panel of experts from Institute of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at Mae Fa Luang University
Mae Saelong Class 10: Sustainable Community Development in Mae Saelong Day 8: Class 11: Yunnan Diaspora: History of Yunnanese refugees in Mae Saelong Class 12: Mae Saelong’s Sustainable Tea Industry
The Golden Triangle: Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong Day 9: Class 13: Chiang Saen Mekong River Port introduction: Security, Trade and Quarantine procedures in the GMS Class 14: A Challenge of Community along the Mekong River Day 10: Class 15: Exchange with local villagers on Chiang Khong community organization and biodiversity awareness
Luang Prabang Day 11: Class 16: Ecotourism theory and practice Day 12: Class 17: Historical Introduction to Luang Prabang Class 18: Buddhism and ecological connections in Laos Day 13: Class 19: Case study of ecotourism provider in Luang Prabang Class 20: From slavery to sustainability: Elephant protection in Laos Day 14: Class 21: China’s Soft Power in Lao Marketplaces
Vientiane Day 15: Class 22: US Embassy visit, Regional Sustainability in Laos Class 23: International environmental NGO
Day 16: Class 24-25: Mekong River Commission morning seminars (2)
Day 17 Return to Kunming Day 18: GMS Regional Symposium on Development and Sustainability
Required readings:
Chen, Xiangming. As Borders Bend: Transnational Spaces on the Pacific Rim. Rowman and Littlefield 2005.
Eyler, Brian. China’s Strategic Engagement with the Greater Mekong Subregion” 2005.
Eyler, Brian “China’s Mekong River Dams and Implications for the Greater Mekong Subregion” 2005
Glassman, Jim. Bounding the Mekong: The Asian Development Bank, China, and Thailand. University of Hawaii, 2010.
Hensengerth, Oliver. Regionalism in China-Vietnam Relations: Institution-Building in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Routledge, 2009.
Hock, Saw Swee. ASEAN-China Economic Relations. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2006.
Impacts of climate change and development on Mekong flow regimes First assessment. Mekong River Commission. 2009
Jurgen, Haack. ASEAN’s Diplomatic and Security Culture: Origins, Developments and Propects. Routledge, 2009
Kang, David. “Hierarchy and Stability in Asian International Relations.” In Ikenberry, et al International Relations Theory and the Asia Pacific. Columbia, New York 2003.
Kent, Anne. Beyond Compliance Beyond Compliance China, International Organizations, and Global Security.. 2007
Kurlantick, Joshua. Charm Offensive. Yale, 2008.
Lampton, David M. “A Plum for a Peach: Bargaining, Interest, and Bureaucratic Politics in China”
Plummer, Michael G. ASEAN economic integration: Trade, FDI, Finance. World Scientific Publishing Company, 2009.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Brian serves as the Director of the IES Kunming Center at Yunnan University and is an expert on China’s economic integration with the GMS region. He has conducted extensive research with various stakeholders in the region including the Yunnanese government officials and businesspeople, local NGOs and local and ethnically Chinese stakeholders in Thailand and Laos. He acts as a consultant to the UNDP Lancang-Mekong Economic Cooperation programme in Kunming, Yunnan province and designed and led several study tours comprised of IES Beijing students throughout Yunnan’s portion of the GMS region.
This field seminar examines historic regional trends between China and Southeast Asia and analyzes how China’s plans for the economic development of southwestern China and economic integration strategies with states in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) empowers stakeholders and creates cross-border issues with regional implications. The Greater Mekong Subregion is comprised of states in the Mekong river basin: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Since the end of the Cold War and the settlement of the Cambodian Conflict, China has developed bilateral and multilateral agreements with GMS states that include infrastructure and trade development plans and developed a foreign policy that promises a peaceful rise in the region. While China watchers and theorists ponder the question of China’s future role in world affairs, China’s GMS plans provides direct insight to a rising China’s regional strategies.
These strategies included the creation of free trade zones on the borders with Vietnam and Myanmar, promotion of free trade agreements with all ASEAN countries as well as consideration of a new free trade region known as ASEAN+China. At the same time, China is linking its infrastructure with its neighbors by building highways and water routes for the promotion of interregional trade. Starting in the mid-1990’s, China has built large-scale dams on the upper Mekong River which have created real and potential social, economic, and policy issues in countries downstream. The response to China’s plans from individual states and multilateral institutions such as ASEAN and the Mekong River Commission has varied from lukewarm to enthusiastic; however, the ASEAN community has not gathered a concerted response to China’s rise and strategies.
The first three weeks of this course provide introduction to major regional issues and a historical overview of regional interaction and cooperation. Special emphasis is placed on examining the colonial and Cold War era and the nationalist trends that emerged from these eras in China and Southeast Asia. The second portion of the course provides a theoretical overview to issues surrounding China’s rise, regionalism and international trade and introduces relevant cross-border issues as case studies for examination. The second portion of the course also takes a deep look at motivations and details for China’s plans for the region. Students will meet with Chinese officials, NGOs, and commercial stakeholders in Yunnan province who influence regional development policy. The final two weeks of the program will be conducted in a mobile learning format in a two Southeast Asian countries (Vietnam and Laos, Thailand and Laos, Burma and Thailand). In these countries, students will engage with government and non-government stakeholders, both native and Chinese, who are empowered or disaffected by recent trends in regionalism.
None
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
The course will be a five credit, 16 week field seminar comprised of introductory lectures during orientation, 2 weeks (16 hours) of historical introduction to regionalism in SEA and China followed by 10 weeks (2 hours each week) of discussion seminars. Field study will comprise a substantial portion of the course, providing students with first-hand observation and participation opportunities. Readings are comprised of secondary research on regional development in China and Southeast Asia as well as publications by institutions visited during the course. The final two weeks of the course will be conducted in two countries in Southeast Asia.
Attendance policy: Attendance to all classes and field study trips is mandatory for the completion of the course. Each unexcused absence will count for a deduction of one-third of a student’s final letter grade.
Week 1 Orientation lectures:
Orientation lecture 1: Introduction to the region, issues and challenges
Orientation lecture 2: Ethnicity in Dali and cultural heritage protection
Orientation lecture 3: Environmental protection of Erhai Lake and Cangshan,
Orientation lecture 4: Mekong Dam visit and regional hydropower development discussion
Week 2 Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia:
Class 1 Monday Intro to pre-colonial Southeast Asia: Explore post colonial governance models, progression of regional political geography; influence of the Chinese tribute system; Nanzhao Kingdom, Khmer Empire; China-Vietnam
Class 2 Tuesday Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia: Burma history and historical conflicts between Thailand and Laos.
Class 3 Thursday Colonial period: SEA pre-colonial interaction with the West, Orientalism, Colonial systems; standard of civilization, first waves of globalization;
Class 4: Friday French Colonialism on the Indochinese peninsula; Origins of the ASEAN Way
Week 3
Class 5 Monday Cold War Era: China and the birth of the UN & post-war Southeast Asia
Class 6 Tuesday US-Vietnam war and secret war with Laos (Movie: The Most Secret Place on Earth; Hearts and Minds or Fog of War)
Class 7 Thursday Burma’s shift to a military junta and Cambodian conflict (movie: The Killing Fields)
Class 8: Friday ASEAN and current regional frameworks; new regionalism; multi-track diplomacy; decentralization; growth triangles
Weekly classes begin
Class 9: Monday Chinese diaspora in SEA and ethnicities and China’s relations with ASEAN
Class 10: Monday China’s regional strategies and development challenges: economic and social pressures and coordination problems
Class 11: Monday China’s regional strategies and development challenges: Yunnan and Kunming Gateway Project MAP QUIZ
Class 12: Monday Asian Development Bank and Framing the GMS
Class 13: Monday GMS North-South Economic Corridor Program – Conduct group SWOT analysis
Class 14: Monday Regional energy demands and hydropower development (Lao brownbag) Group Simulation Begins
Class 15: Monday Cooperation and Conflict in the South China Seas (Vietnam brownbag)
Class 16: Monday Competing theories on China’s Rise: China threat or China Hierarchy or marketplace society (Thailand brownbag)
Class 17: Monday Soft Power and the Made in China brand (Cambodia brownbag)
Class 18: US Foreign Policy in China-SEA
Case studies: ACTFA, Dams, NSEC, South-China Seas, Sustainable tourism (trip)
Assignments: Map quiz, NSEC SWOT and action plan, dam simulation; regional symposium, travel presentations
Trip: Soft power, regional cooperation, infrastructure development projects, sustainable tourism, Chinese diaspora, relevant domestic issues and challenges; multi-track diplomacy, business to business relationships and NGO development
Trip Readings:
Sample itinerary for Thailand-Laos trip
Bangkok
Day 1:
Class 1: Guest speaker on Yunnanese Diaspora in Thaliand
Day 2:
Class 2: US Embassy: US Foreign Policy in Burma
Class 3: Regional Environmental Protection and US Foreign Policy
Day 3:
Class 4: Asian Development Bank’s Burma Approach
Class 5: GMS Environmental Programme: Case study, Biodiversity Corridors
Chiang Mai
Day 4:
Class 6: Local NGO and resource conservation in Northern Thailand and discussion session
Day 5:
Class 7:Field trip to Mushroom Research Center
Day 6:
Class 8: Confucius Institute and exchange with Mae Fa Luang University Chinese language students
Day 7:
Class 9: Guest speaker (Dr. Apisom Intralawan) on Ecological Economic Development in the GMS, Panel of experts from Institute of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at Mae Fa Luang University
Mae Saelong
Class 10: Sustainable Community Development in Mae Saelong
Day 8:
Class 11: Yunnan Diaspora: History of Yunnanese refugees in Mae Saelong
Class 12: Mae Saelong’s Sustainable Tea Industry
The Golden Triangle: Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong
Day 9:
Class 13: Chiang Saen Mekong River Port introduction: Security, Trade and Quarantine procedures in the GMS
Class 14: A Challenge of Community along the Mekong River
Day 10:
Class 15: Exchange with local villagers on Chiang Khong community organization and biodiversity awareness
Luang Prabang
Day 11:
Class 16: Ecotourism theory and practice
Day 12:
Class 17: Historical Introduction to Luang Prabang
Class 18: Buddhism and ecological connections in Laos
Day 13:
Class 19: Case study of ecotourism provider in Luang Prabang
Class 20: From slavery to sustainability: Elephant protection in Laos
Day 14:
Class 21: China’s Soft Power in Lao Marketplaces
Vientiane
Day 15:
Class 22: US Embassy visit, Regional Sustainability in Laos
Class 23: International environmental NGO
Day 16:
Class 24-25: Mekong River Commission morning seminars (2)
Day 17 Return to Kunming
Day 18: GMS Regional Symposium on Development and Sustainability
Brian serves as the Director of the IES Kunming Center at Yunnan University and is an expert on China’s economic integration with the GMS region. He has conducted extensive research with various stakeholders in the region including the Yunnanese government officials and businesspeople, local NGOs and local and ethnically Chinese stakeholders in Thailand and Laos. He acts as a consultant to the UNDP Lancang-Mekong Economic Cooperation programme in Kunming, Yunnan province and designed and led several study tours comprised of IES Beijing students throughout Yunnan’s portion of the GMS region.