In a new article, HCSS Senior Fellow Friso Stevens examines the ways that China-based scholars interpret the US-promoted concept of the ‘Indo-Pacific’ and the strategy and policy advice they advance on how Beijing should engage with it. The article finds the Chinese discourse to be realist in outlook and invariably pessimistic. As such, it mirrors the debate in the West.
Of considerable concern to Chinese interests is the potential impediment of China’s economic access to Southeast Asia, jeopardizing Xi Jinping’s Belt & Road Initiative. In addition, the Biden administration’s rallying tool of ‘ideology’ – liberal values – and its diplomatic ‘club strategy’ are judged as rather effective in swaying countries to the US side. Militarily, the projected danger of a ‘NATOization’ of the region stands out, suggesting significant fears that European and Indo-Pacific ‘vassals’ of the US could form a bloc against China. Most revealing is the open discussion of ‘united front’ divide-and-rule tactics, and the advocacy of ‘moderate pressure’ vis-à-vis weaker states.
The article “Chinese Scholarly Perspectives on the US-Promoted “Indo-Pacific” Concept and Strategy” was published online on 16 Oct 2024.
Friso Stevens holds a PhD in International Relations from Leiden University and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the European University Institute and the University of Helsinki. He previously taught at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Currently, Friso is a Senior Fellow at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies.
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