Building a Neighborly Community Post-cold War China, Japan, and Southeast Asia

Building a neighborly community, available for the first time in paperback, explores the political economy of post-cold war East Asian co-operation by examining the history of intra-regional co-operation, against the background of China's rise and Japan's relative decline, both real and perceived. The book in particular examines how East Asian states have dealt with the South China Sea as a region-wide security challenge and the imperative for self-help after the 1997 economic crisis. The book builds on the explanatory strength of analytical eclecticism, and ultimately concludes that China, South Korea, Japan, and ASEAN states have aimed for constructing a neighborly community. The fundamental differences between a neighborly community and the kind of community that has emerged in Europe and North America are that qualification for membership is not conditional, the process of routine interactions is itself one of reassurance, the aim of inter-state interactions is to foster acceptance of each other, and changes in a member's foreign policy behaviour are accepted.

Daojiong Zha is Associate Professor of International Studies at the Renmin University of China. Weixing Hu is Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong.

1. Introduction2. East Asian community building in theoretical perspectives3. China and Southeast Asia4. Japan and Southeast Asia5. Engaging China and Japan the 'ASEAN way'6. Managing security challenges: the South China Sea7. Economic diplomacy and the ASEAN+3 process8. ASEAN and Sino-Japanese relations9. Conclusion: building a neighborly community