Book contents
- Recentering Pacific Asia
- Recentering Pacific Asia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Author and Commentators
- Acknowledgements
- Note on the Cover Map
- Introduction
- 1 Continuities in China’s Pacific Asian Centrality
- 2 Thin Connectivity
- Commentary
- 3 Sharp Connectivity
- Commentary
- 4 Thick Connectivity
- Commentary
- 5 China, Pacific Asia, and Reconfiguring a Multinodal World
- Commentary
- 6 Global Power Rivalry, Pacific Asia, and World Order
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Thick Connectivity
The Re-centering of Pacific Asia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 August 2023
- Recentering Pacific Asia
- Recentering Pacific Asia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Author and Commentators
- Acknowledgements
- Note on the Cover Map
- Introduction
- 1 Continuities in China’s Pacific Asian Centrality
- 2 Thin Connectivity
- Commentary
- 3 Sharp Connectivity
- Commentary
- 4 Thick Connectivity
- Commentary
- 5 China, Pacific Asia, and Reconfiguring a Multinodal World
- Commentary
- 6 Global Power Rivalry, Pacific Asia, and World Order
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Since 2008 Pacific Asia has been reconfigured as a region, with China as its center. In economics, China has been the central driver and partner in growth. In politics, China has become the central concern of its neighbors. China’s GDP surpassed Japan’s in 2000, and by 2009 it equaled the combined totals of Japan, ASEAN, and Korea. While this shows China’s demographic power, it is not simply a matter of size. Its per capita GDP is now at eye level with countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. China is again the major presence in Pacific Asia, with a majority of its population and its production. Re-centered China is quite different from premodern China. China and its region are now globally integrated, and its former, cautious thin connectivity has been replaced by assertive thick connectivity. China now tries to maximize win-win contact. However, the new asymmetries worry the neighbors. China’s challenges of integrating Greater China and avoiding hostility with Japan are vital for China’s global prospects as well as its regional stature.
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- Information
- Recentering Pacific AsiaRegional China and World Order, pp. 113 - 147Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023