Assess the view that China cooperation with ASEAN has seen new dimensions since

2000.
New dimensions refer to new and additional areas of agreement cum cooperation
between China and SEAN beyond the traditional framework of economic
cooperation, hitherto dominant before the year 2000. Chinas cooperation with
ASEAN has seen besides traditional economic cooperation, new dimensions in 3new
areas of: non-traditional security issues; free trade arrangements and the South
China Sea and maritime security. However, in comparison with the level of
cooperation in the economic sphere, cooperation in the political and security areas
have been lagging behind. Most of the documents signed between China and SEAN
in the latter still remain to be effectively implemented. Economic cooperation is
traditionally most important in China-ASEAN relations. The economic cooperation
and integration between China and ASEAN members its most remarkable in terms
of trade volume as well as depth cooperation. Since the economic reform and open
door policy in the late 1970s, Chinas economy has become more closely integrated
with ASEAN. However, China-ASEAN cooperation has been broadened beyond trade
and economic activities to cover non-traditional security areas and related legalstrategic issues. Thus, Chinas relations with ASEAN have reached a new era where
the 2sides have established an economic, political and strategic framework for their
comprehensive cooperation.
Chinas cooperation with ASEAN has seen, besides traditional economic
cooperation, new dimensions in 3new areas of: non-traditional security issues, free
trade area arrangements; the South China Sea and maritime security. The ChinaASEAN relations are characterized as economic cooperation originally. Economic
cooperation is most important in China-ASEAN relations. The economic cooperation
and integration between China and ASEAN members is most remarkable in terms of
trade volume as well as depth of cooperation. Since the economic reform and open
door policy in the late 1970s, Chinas economy has become more closely integrated
with its neighboring economies, including ASEAN. As China continues its export
oriented economic development, there is competition between China and ASEAN
countries in attracting foreign direct investment and in exporting manufactured
products to the same third-country markets. ASEAN-China trade totaled US
$39.5billion foreign merchandise trade has been continuously on the rise, increasing
from 5.8% in 1991 to 8.3% in 2000. ASEAN is now Chinas 5 th biggest trading
partner. Meanwhile, the share of China in ASEANs trade has grown from 2.1% in
1994 to 3.9% in 2000. China is now the 6 th largest trade partner of ASEAN. However,
it is further recommended that ASEAN and China should consolidate and leverage
more by adopting a concrete framework of economic cooperation to forge closer
economic relations in the 21st century. The framework recommended is to be both
comprehensive and forward-looking. It will not only enhance the current economic
links between the 2 regions, but it will also chart the future direction of those
relations. Given the current global economic weakness and the increased risks of a
downturn, the adoption of the framework will help shore up confidence, particularly
in East Asia, and contribute to counteracting the forces of gloom. The framework of
economic cooperation will contain 4major elements, some of which should be
implemented on an accelerated basis. Trade and investment facilitation measures,
which include: enhanced transparency; removal of non-tariff barriers; liberalization
of state-trading rights; simplification of customs procedures; mutual acceptance of

standards and conformity assess procedures; facilitation of visa arrangements to

promote the flow of business personnel; promotion and facilitation of trade in ICT
products, e-commerce, and adoption of common standards and practices and
technological cooperation, so as to raise all countries application level; and
promotion of trade in services. Provision of technical assistance and capacity in
building to ASEAN members particularly to the new members in order to expand
their trade with China. Positive consideration in the form of promotion measures,
consistent with WTO rules, be given to the non-WTO members of ASEAN. Expansion
of cooperation in areas such as finance, tourism, agriculture, HRD, SMEs, industrial
cooperation, intellectual property rights, environment, forestry and forestry
products, energy and sub-regional development. The adoption of this framework of
economic cooperation between ASEAN and China will catapult ASEAN-China
relations forward and establish a solid foundation for East Asian growth and stability
over the years. Non-traditional security issues come to the forefront of the world
community after the September 11 terrorist attack in USA. Naturally, they also
become subject matters to be dealt with within the China ASEAN cooperative
framework. In November 2002, the Joint Declaration of ASEAN and China on
Cooperation in the Field of Non-Traditional Security Issues was adopted, which
initiated full cooperation between ASEAN and China in the field of non-traditional
security Issues and listed the priority and form of cooperation. The priorities at
current stage of cooperation include combating trafficking in illegal drugs, peoplesmuggling including trafficking in women and children, sea piracy, terrorism, armssmuggling, money-laundering, international economic crime and cyber crime. As to
multilateral and bilateral cooperation, it aims to strengthen information exchange
and training and enhance capacity building, strengthening practical cooperation on
non-traditional security issues, and explore other areas and modalities of
cooperation. Nontraditional security issues include dealing with pandemic disease.
The most salient pandemic in recent years is, of course, SARS. The SARS outbreak
occurred in early 2003 in southern China and then spread to other regions of China
as well as other countries. While it posed a serious health crisis for human beings, it
also marked a new avenue of cooperation between China and ASEAN in fighting
epidemics. In order to make up for its early management of SARS and repair its
damaged ties with ASEAN China from April 2003 onwards initiated vigorous
measures to fight the epidemics jointly with ASEAN, which was also receptive to
Chinas olive branch for epidemic cooperation. Forums, coordination measures and
funds were launched and cooperative mechanisms were established and further
developed. The joint efforts made by ASEAN and China in their common fight
against the SARS set a good example for future cooperation against the spread of
epidemics, which are not limited by national boundaries. When an outbreak of avian
flu hit Southeast Asia and some Chinese provinces in 2004, China re-opened the
established cooperation avenues with ASEAN. Hence, the two sides have made
unprecedented progress in pandemic disease control. The experiences in this
respect no doubt can be instructive for handling other non-traditional security
issues between China and ASEAN nations. However, cooperation in these issues is
more apparent than real. As there is no legal conformity between China and ASEAN
and an absence of extradition treaty, it is difficult to cooperate on such legal issues
as jurisdiction and criminal procedure code. Since piracy in Southeast Asian waters
is a trans-national crime, any unilateral or bilateral anti-piracy action is not
sufficient to suppress piracy requires consistent and comprehensive multilateral and
international cooperation. While they have made important progress in their joint

anti-piracy efforts, there are still a number of difficulties existing in this anti-piracy
cooperation due to lack of resources and revenue within less affluent ASEAN
member countries. Although cooperation in the area of disease-related intelligence,
has improved since the SARS in 2003, much of these information will have gone
through filtering effects in order to protect national interests. They either came in
late and thus became irrelevant to the rapid mutation of the disease environment or
the containment measures rendered were less robust and serious. The recent case
of the H1N1 virus infection is a classic case in point where China and individual
ASEAN member countries adopted differing levels of alert and hence resulted in the
confusion of containment and mitigation measures adopted individually. The most
significant of the new initiatives, in terms of members, is the China-ASEAN FTA. If
agreement is ratified, this will be the worlds largest free trade area, encompassing
1.7billion people, a collective GDP of almost US$2trilliono, and intra-regional trade
of US$1.2trillion. The FTA arrangements mark one of the most important
breakthroughs in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. Within ASEAN, there are WTO
and non-WTO members whose legal rights and obligations are different. However,
after akk the non-WTO members in ASEAN acceded to the WTO, the rules laid down
by this international organization can be more widely implemented in this region.
The Framework Agreement is a milestone in the development of China-ASAEAN
comprehensive economic cooperation and also groundwork for the establishment of
the China-ASEAN FTA. At the same time, WTO rules provide the legal basis for and
have a close link to the development of the Framework Agreement and the ChinaASEAN FTA process. The real purpose of the investment regime as contained in the
CAFTA is to facilitate investment into the Area, so as to promote economic
development of both China and ASEAN. Thus, the observation that the CAFTA is
expected to increase intra-regional FDI flows, and to improve the economic
efficiency of the region through greater scale economies as a result of market and
resources. Ultimately, this will lead to greater opportunities for business for all. The
CFTA will be officially ratified in 2010. However, the implementation of the CAFTA is
compounded by problems of bilateral and sub-economic arrangements made by
border trade and between China and the Indo-China countries of Vietnam, Laos and
Myanmar. While border trade has been developing very rapidly in recent years there
remain some problems, such as the weak mechanism of administration, different
policies of neighboring countries having different implementation
results,
irregularity of accounting settlement, and the burdens of taxes and fees. These
problems are quite entirely different between China and insular ASEAN countries
like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines and thus made the
general implementation of the CAFTA difficult. It is for this reason, that though the
CAFTA was introduced earlier, it is wished to be ratified only in 2010. The South
China Sea, a semi-enclosed sea surrounded by a number of Southeast Asian
countries as well as China, is one of the most important areas in China-ASEAN
relations in terms of political and security cooperation as well as the maintenance of
regional peace and security. It is also a major disputed area in China-ASEAN
relations. There are maritime and territorial disputes in the South China Sea, in
particular around and regarding the Spratly Islands, which have been claimed by
5coutnries and 6parties. Such multiple claims have caused tensions between
relevant claimants on the one hand and make cooperation difficult on the other. In
compliance with international norms ASEAN countries and China signed the
milestone Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea in 2002
promising to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means,

without resorting to the threat of use of force, and pledging to explore or undertake
cooperative activities in the South China Sea. However, there are maritime and
territorial disputes in the South China Sea, in particular around and regarding the
Spratly Islands, which have been claimed by 5countries and 6parties (Brunei, China,
Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam). Such multiple claims have caused
tensions between relevant claimants on the one hand and make cooperation
difficult on the other. Also, the conservation and management of the South China
Sea fishery resources is not a complicated issue, which is not possible for a single
state among the South China Sea countries to resolve alone. A joint effort is thus
essential, particular in consideration that the state of the South China Sea fisheries
gets worsened but the demand for fisheries get escalated. It is suggested that there
is an urgent need of a more effective regional cooperation scheme for fishery
resources conservation and management.
In comparison with the level of cooperation in the economic sphere, cooperation in
the political and security areas have been lagging behind. Most of the documents
signed between China and ASEAN in the latter spheres remain to be effectively
implemented. This is due to 2important reasons: Firstly, the emergence of the
China Threat Theory a notion that has been actively promoted by many Western
politicians, journalists and some Western scholars since 2000. To ease the concerns
of its neighbours, China has on many occasions reiterated that it will never become
hegemonic. Chinas leadership has often taken great pains to explain to its
neighbours that China has historically never harboured territorial ambitions beyond
its present borders. The emphasis in Chinas foreign policy in 2004 rested on
peaceful rise. At the end of 2008, Hu Jin Tao corrected it to peaceful
development since rise implicitly connotes a form of aggression. However, China
forays into the African continent and the Latin American countries in her search for
alternative sources of oil does not convince others of her peaceful development
intention. Her recent support in early 2009for the Sri Lankan governments war
against the Tamil Tigers Liberation Movement, has sparked fears about her
hegemonic intentions of securing the sea lanes in the Indian Ocean via establishing
a Chinese naval base at the tip of the Sri Lankan coast. Chinas leadership role in
SCO in Central Asia has ignited fears of a Chinas attempt to create a rival military
organization to the American led NATO in Europe. Secondly, the emergence of China
as an economic force in the global economic system. During the last decade,
Chinas real GDP growth had averaged 10.1percent, the fastest rate of real GDP
growth in the world. During the same period, Chinas export grew threefold from
US$62.1billion in 1990 to US$249.2billion in 2000, making China the seventh largest
exporter in the world. In addition, FDI inflows into China has grown more than
tenfold from US$3.5billion in 1990 to US$40.77billion in 2000. Up to the mid-90s,
real GDP growth was also quite rapid for the ASEAN countries, averaging 6.8
percent per annum between 1990-1997. Total exports were growing rapidly, more
than doubling from US$352.6billion in 1997. In 1990, FDI flows to ASEAN was
US$12.2billion. By 1997, this had more than doubled to US$32.5billion. The
dynamism of Chinas economy, its rise as a major exporter and as a magnet of FDI
was in some sense similar to the experience of a number of ASEAN countries,
except, it was occurring at a much faster pace and at a much larger scale. Thus, at
their Summit in November 2000, the leaders of ASEAN and China agreed to look
into the implications of Chinas accession to the WTO in 2001 and at measures to
further enhance integration and economic cooperation between the 2 regions. The

Summit initiative therefore represents a convergence of these developments and

underscores the opportunities for economic cooperation between China and ASEAN.
However, the advent of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 brought these
achievements to a standstill. As a result of this crisis, ASEAN and China which as
previously known as ASEAN+1 has morphed into ASEAN+3ASEAN
+CHINA+JAPAN+SOUTH KOREA. This is necessary as more resources are needed to
cope with the financial crisis. The leaders of ASEAN and the 3 countries of Northeast
Asia now meet annually. Drawing form the lessons of the financial contagion of
1997, a network of bilateral swap arrangements to provide standby credit in the
event of balance of payments difficulties are being negotiated among the countries
of East Asia. East Asian finance ministers and their deputies are meeting on a
regular basis to hammer out the basis of the swap arrangements. Discussions are
also now being conducted on a regular basis among the trade ministers of East Asia
focused largely on the issue of greater cooperation in trade, investment and
information technology, Thus, ASEAN-China relations have seen dimensions, not
only from within its areas of development but also from the 2 additional new
partners. From ASEAN+1 to ASEAN+3 the whole traditional economic cooperation
has to be renegotiated and adjusted and therefore non-traditional economic
cooperation in areas like security and maritime policies became even more
complicated. This explains why cooperation in economic sphere is more intense and
real than in the political and strategic areas since 2000.
In conclusion, China and ASEAN have indeed seen new dimensions of cooperation
and challenges in traditionally economic and new non-economic areas respectively.
In this sense, a more comprehensive cooperation and a more progressive
integration between China and ASEAN, such as embodied in the CAFTA scheme, is
crucial for a win-win future for both, especially in terms of peace and economic
prosperity. However a new perspective occurred after the Asian Financial Crisis in
1997 as new dimensions in ASEAN-China relations, not only came in from within
between economic and non-economic areas but also from the transformation of
ASEAN+1 to ASEAN+3.

How successful has China been in improving its relations with Southeast Asia since
1978?
Since its market reforms in 1979, Chinese ties with the Southeast Asia states have
been normalized and improved through the friendly diplomacy under Dengs
leadership. China has since been an integral and active participant in regional
forums and organizations, an indicator of its improved ties with Southeast Asia.
Chinas relations with Southeast Asian states are also strengthened through
deepening economic ties, which are mutually beneficial.

Besides, the fact that both sides are eager to upgrade their security and strategic
ties show that relationship has indeed improved.
Beijing relations with some neighboring Southeast Asian remained strained over
territorial disputes.
Limitations to improvement of Sino-Southeast Asian ties are evident in the latters
wariness of Chinese political expansion in the region.
Despite having derived vast benefits from trade with China, some Southeast Asian
countries continue to fear Beijings economic dominance.
Chinas relationship with Southeast Asia has dramatically improved since its 1979
market reforms, as ties are normalized and aggressively deepened through the
arduous efforts made by successive Chinese leaders. Although tensions and distrust
persisted due to unresolved territorial disputes and rising Chinese assertiveness,
such could not have been compromised the largely cordial relations between both
sides, which are in turn perceived by the governments to be vastly beneficial for the
current prosperity and future developments of all parties.