China looks at the neighboring countries in Southeast Asia as an important part of its foreign policy. Many countries in East Asia had good relationships with China from the time of the Qing dynasty and even before his reign. Do you know that Japanese culture is derived from Tang Dynasty China? To understand how Japanese culture evolved from China, you must understand the insights of China and Japanese culture. The other country that is influenced by China is Korea and Vietnam.
Religion, Language, and Cultural Ties
The religion Buddhism spread from India and entered China through Tibet. After that, it spread in Northeast and Southeast Asia through Confucianist thinking. Japan, Korea, and Vietnam all used Chinese characters in their writings for centuries. At present Japan is still using these characters. Therefore, Japanese and Chinese people take the assistance of Chinese simplified translation to differentiate the language from each other.
Apart from cultural ties with these countries, China also spread its business in countries like Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. A large number of Chinese people are residing in these countries. China,s interest and security conflicts were raised
- When the war broke out in Japan in 1931-1945.
- Korean war that broke from 1950-1953.
- The Invasion of Vietnam took place in 1979.
- The war with India in 1962.
- Cross-border crises with Taiwan from the 1950s and 1990s.
Reforms in the Relationship
China’s modern relationship with the nations of East Asia started in 1978. It was the time when Deng Xiaoping made the decision in the parliament to make reforms and open China to building relationships after 30 years of isolation. For building the relationship, China has changed its approach. In the period of Mao, China encouraged revolution and tried to help the communist parties that were populated heavily by overseas Chinese. Chinese people that were living in other countries were viewed with hostility and suspicion by local people. Deng Changed this mindset. He made people against the communist parties in these countries. He emphasized the fact that the Chinese should be loyal to their country no matter where they lived. This gave confidence to the government of East Asian countries in regard to their ethnic Chinese populations. Moreover, it normalized the relationship between these countries with China.
One of the motives behind Deng’s strategy is to configure China’s relationships with the region and with the ethnic group that is living abroad to utilize the wealth of overseas Chinese to invest in China. The overseas Chinese from not only Southeast Asia but also Hongkong and Taiwan played a great role in China’s progress.
China’s policy to reach Southeast and East Asia is a result of its foreign policy. They paid great attention to its ties with the US and the Soviet Union till its invasion in 1991. From the 1990s up till now, China,s focus is on maintaining good relationships with the US. Even then, the US and other Western countries have imposed certain sections in China.
China’s Relationship with Indonesia
The two things that are shaping Indonesia’s relationship with China are the long-established Chinese diaspora and domestic politics. The relationship between China with Indonesia is 70 years old. It has seen several up and downs in relationships. Ethnic Chinese Indonesians have played a significant role in promoting relationships with China. They helped in maintaining the economic relationship between the two countries and they also took great benefit from the relationship.
The Chinese investment in Indonesia is done on unequal terms and resulted in political turmoils. Therefore, if you want to invest in Indonesia then to understand the term and conditions for investment, you must take the assistance of Indonesian translation services. For the security issues, both countries have set up multiple confidence-building platforms like Xiangshan Forum, and China Defense Security Consultation Talk. However, security cooperation is limited despite of signing of 2008, Joint Development of Defense Industry, Joint Military Exercise in 2008, and the signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2013.
China,s Relationship with Thailand
The Thai people are very proud of their independence. They are of the view that their wisdom makes them win international affairs. Thai feel pride in preserving their country’s independence and maintaining the political and cultural tradition that dates back centuries ago.
Thailand holds a great strategic location. In the 1850s China was a power, and in 1930s Britain, India, and France gained power. In the late 1930s, service orientation and management changed the course towards Japan. After that Bangkok was closely integrated with the USA.
The face of Southeast Asia has changed the attitude of Thai people. China toiled to make its good relationships with Thailand. On the other hand, Thailand was not able to select between the US and China. This is because Chinese-Thai relationships are not in favor of the US. The Thai military relationship with the USA is more powerful than Sino-Thai links. However, China’s growing influence in Thailand is evident. Thai government agencies are working to have closed align with China so that they can get military, political, and military benefits. Chinese-Thai relations have improved a lot in recent years. It can be viewed from the fact that China has become a source of international students from Thai universities, investments, and tourism. To understand the relationship between Thailand and China, Thai translation services are of great help.
Wrapping Up
To know the role of any country in the region you must know its relationship with other countries. Thus for knowing China’s role in East Asia, you have to know its relationship with other countries like Indonesia and Thailand.