Security Dilemmas and Challenges in 21st Century Asia

Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in
the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic
data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for
at the Library of Congress

This publication was co-financed by the Faculty of International and Political
Studies of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.

The series International Relations in Asia, Africa and the Americas is edited by
the Centre for International Studies and Development of the Jagiellonian
University in Kraków.

ISSN 2511-588X

ISBN 978-3-631-80820-7 (Print)

E-ISBN 978-3-631-82395-8 (E-PDF)

E-ISBN 978-3-631-82396-5 (EPUB)

E-ISBN 978-3-631-82397-2 (MOBI)

DOI 10.3726/b17044

© Peter Lang GmbH

Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften

Berlin 2020

All rights reserved.

Peter Lang – Berlin ∙ Bern ∙ Bruxelles ∙ New York ∙
Oxford ∙ Warszawa ∙ Wien

All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any
utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without
the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to
prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions,
translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in
electronic retrieval systems.

This publication has been peer reviewed.

www.peterlang.com

About the author

Olga Barbasiewicz, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Institute of Middle and Far East of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. She holds an MA and a PhD in political science as well as an MA in Japanese studies. In her current research, she focuses on memory politics, Japanese–Korean relations and migration studies in wartime East Asia (Japan, Shanghai).

Marcin Grabowski, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Institute of Political Science and International Relations of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and the director of the Centre for International Studies and Development at the JU. His research interests focus on the Asia–Pacific Rim, especially institutional arrangements in the region, American and Chinese foreign policy, theories of IR, and international economics.

Ewa Trojnar, PhD, is an associate professor at the Institute of Middle and Far East of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and the head of the Chair of Japan and the Taiwan Studies Centre. She obtained her PhD in political science, and an MA in economics. She is a researcher and teacher of political science as well as of international relations in the Asia–Pacific region.

About the book

This book analyzes current security challenges in Asia (understood in its broader Indo–Pacific sense) with the aim of capturing the major shifts in the balance of power involving regional actors. Through the lenses of IR theory, this book seeks to provide insights into the consequences of the transition of power from the United States to China. The growing power of China and its impact on both neighboring countries and the international system as a whole, as well as its reception by the United States, have been of key importance to the development of security and international studies. By presenting the case studies of regional security challenges from a multidimensional perspective, this book analyzes both the stages of the maturity of powers and their satisfaction within the existing system.

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

Introduction

Olga Barbasiewicz, Marcin Grabowski, Ewa Trojnar

1 Changing Security Dynamics in the Indo–Pacific

Jakub Przetacznik

2 Asia–Pacific Security: Australia’s Perspective

Attila Endre Simay

3 Foreign Trade as Economic (Inter)dependence in Asia

East Asian Problems

Paweł Behrendt

4 The Significance of Sea Lanes of Communication for Regional Security in East Asia

András Bartók

5 Amongst Dragons and Bears: Japan’s Defense Policy during Heisei Era

Adam Stempler

6 The South China Sea Dispute between China and the Philippines

Krzysztof Kozłowski

7 Post-Cold War North Korea – People’s Republic of China Relations from a Game Theory Perspective

Zsolt Horváth

8 The Changing Picture of China: Can China’s Investment in Soft Power Change the World’s Perception about the Asian Giant?

South Asian Security

Antonina Łuszczykiewicz

9 The China-India Border Conflict: Prospects for War and Peace in the 21st Century

10 Development of the Belt and Road Initiative: Security Challenges in South Asia

Ramachandra Byrappa

11 The Melting of South Asia’s Frontier Zone and Its Consequences

Dóra Günsberger

12 CPEC through the Lenses of Security: Internal and External Challenges

Notes on Contributors

Index

Introduction

The concept of Asia has always been multidimensional, since the understanding of the name was not only dependent on geography, but also on strategic and political issues. This is one of the reasons why this book analyzes Asia in its broader, Indo–Pacific meaning.

This book provides a wide range of the topics concerning the security of the Asia (and Pacific) region and is divided into three parts and twelve chapters, written by international scholars representing different leading European academic institutions.

The first part deals with introductory matters, including the security environment of the region, theoretical setting, as well as general issues of trans-regional problems or economic issues. In chapter two, Jakub Przetacznik analyzes one of the pivotal players in the Indo–Pacific region, namely Australia, as one which is positioned between the United States and China, and being the pillar of the U.S. quad policy. His text deals with the problems of Australian foreign policy strategy, as well as its relations with key regional powers. He states that Australia, aware of the ongoing changes in the regional and global balance of power, is trying to shape the security environment to its own interests with the vivid awareness of the need to engage further with China. In chapter three, Attila Endre Simay summarizes analyses with different security dimensions, concluding that the most important factor in Asia is trade, which facilitates foreign affairs and creates the strongest link between the Asian nations.

The second part of the book is devoted to East Asian security problems. The analysis of Paweł Bernhart in chapter four concerns the role of sea lanes of communication in the context of regional security in East Asia. He claims that the region is a politically dynamic one and stresses the deep dependence on SLOC which is shared by the major economic powers in the region, namely China and Japan, the other countries of East Asia defined as Tigers (Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore), as well as the so-called Tiger Cub Economies, which include Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The fifth chapter, authored by András Bartók, is devoted to the Japanese defense problems in the era of Emperor Akihito (Heisei), analyzing Japanese adjustments to the changing security dynamics in Northeast Asia, including the growing North Korean nuclear threat and increased power of the People’s Republic of China, concluding that Japan has managed to adapt its forces to this changing environment, yet a set of challenges remain for the country and its ←9 | 10→defense. In chapter six, Adam Stempler analyzes the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines. He provides the historical background of the South China Sea dispute, the reasons for the ongoing efforts to take control over the surrounding waters, as well as an analysis of the Philippine Statement of Claim. China’s relations with North Korea are discussed by Krzysztof Kozłowski in chapter seven. He focuses on their post-Cold War period, analyzing them from a game theory perspective. Kozłowski claims that these relations amount to a game where both players try to maximize the effectiveness of their actions, with the analysis of their potential costs and benefits. The question of Chinese security is also raised by Zsolt Horváth in chapter eight. Instead of the realistic approach towards security issues, Horváth refers to Chinese soft power and the changing picture of China in the world. He asks the question of Xi Jinping’s approach to foreign policy, particularly in regard to maritime conflicts. Horváth tries to answer the question of Chinese potential in promoting itself in a period of its military and economic expansion.