Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


         China Using 'Soft Power' To Assert Rights Over South China Sea

   by Steve Miller

   Last week, days after The Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration
   awarded The Philippines a victory in its case against China in the
   dispute over rights to the South China Sea, Beijing began a massive
   public relations campaign to press its position.

   Part of China's campaign includes shoring up international support to
   denounce the ruling and approaching other nations to voice their
   backing for Beijing. Cambodia, which receives significant aid from
   Beijing, was one of the first to do so.

   So what can be made of China's use of what some call `checkbook
   diplomacy'?

   "I think China, just like every other country in the world, through its
   development assistance, through its diplomacy, through its soft
   power... is really trying to advance, understandably, its own national
   interests," said Curtis S. Chin, Asia Fellow with the Milken Institute.
   "So very clearly, when you look at Southeast Asia, China is very much a
   player for better and for worse. We see it in the trade connections
   between China and the Southeast Asian nations... But really all around
   Asia, China is increasingly a trade partner, and so what China is doing
   with its checkbook, with its diplomacy, is really trying to create
   friends and partners through its investments," he said.

   Scott Harold, Associate Director for the Center for Asia Pacific Policy
   at the RAND Corporation, said Association of Southeast Asian Nations
   (ASEAN) member states "generally tend to regard ASEAN as a way for
   Southeast Asian States, all of which are weaker than their surrounding
   powers (China, Japan, the United States, India, Russia, and Australia).
   [Member states] regard the ASEAN format as a way for those weaker,
   smaller Southeast Asian nations to have greater influence."

   However, Harold said, participation in ASEAN is only a portion of each
   member state's foreign policy calculation.

   "Member states that have disputes with China, for example, try to
   mobilize their Southeast Asian neighbors to craft a joint statement,"
   he said.

   ''At times, Harold noted, member states may try to act in unison and
   address issues like the South China Sea. "But when China makes it clear
   for some weaker, smaller, poorer, more corrupt states, that it is going
   to make them pay costs in their relations with China, then you see
   countries like Cambodia and Laos backing out," he said.

   Chin said China's aid to Phnom Penh, including a recent pledge of $600
   million, is in line with Beijing's practices because "for Cambodia,
   China is its most significant partner. Each nation is seeking to
   advance their own interests [and] Cambodia is getting tremendous
   amounts money from China." China doesn't believe the aid was in the
   form of a quid pro quo, "but China is certainly getting an ally in
   China's own efforts to advance its opinions in the region," he said.

   RAND Corporation's Scott Harold said there is some resentment towards
   China when it employs such tactics because "when Beijing says jump and
   your only right is to ask how high," he said, "is not very well
   appreciated... and I think it may very well be a reality that small
   states are takers in the international system, but it's not something
   they like."

   Looking to ASEAN's future, Chin notes that for the past few years, the
   foreign and finance ministers of the group haven't been able to speak
   with a single voice when it comes to China. So if China can "peel off"
   a member of ASEAN through "diplomacy or money or some mix of the two,
   clearly ASEAN suffers."

   China's influence within ASEAN notwithstanding, Harold said a more
   troubling issue is the ineffective leadership from some of the
   organization's large and/or strategic member states.

   That's not to say China's involvement at certain times doesn't have the
   effect of disrupting ASEAN's unity. However, Harold said, Beijing
   doesn't appear to have a long-term interest in driving wedges between
   members "because, frankly, ASEAN is riven with a number of disputes."
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/china-soft-power-asean/3430297.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/china-soft-power-asean/3430297.html