J OF CHIN POLIT SCI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-018-9544-9 BOOK REVIEW
Robert S. Ross and Øystein Tunsjø, eds., Strategic Adjustment and The Rise of China: Power and Politics in East Asia (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2017), 304p. $29.93 paperback. Baogang Guo 1
# Journal of Chinese Political Science/Association of Chinese Political Studies 2018
This edited volume is a collection of nine papers presented at two international conferences held in Beijing (2013) and Oslo (2014), and is published in the Cornell Studies in Security Affairs series edited by Robert J. Art, Robert Jervis, and Stephen M. Walt. Both conferences were sponsored by Norwegian government and organized by Beijing University and Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies respectively with contributors from Australia, China, South Korea, Norway, and the United States. The volume focuses on the strategic adjustments the major players in this region have made to the new security challenge of the rise of China. The volume is organized into three parts, with the contributors in Part I examining power and politics in East Asian transition. In Chapter 1, Randall Schweller argues that although China’s rise will affect the responses of other East Asian countries, ultimately it is domestic politics, especially nationalism, that shapes each country’s policy towards China. The author makes an interesting point that nationalism is on the rise in all countries in the region, and the clash of nationalism may undermine stability in the region. However, the author does not think that the tension will reach Ba boiling point^ (p. 40). In Chapter 2, Øystein Tunsjø turns to U.S.-China relations, and using his hedging concept, he characterizes the bilateral relations as a balancing act between cooperation and confrontation. He foresees that more confrontations will lie ahead with the emergence of a U.S.-China bipolarity (p. 43). The authors in Part II examine China’s relations with Japan and South Korea. Authors in these three chapters reveal two different responses to China’s rise. For example, although Japan considered China’s rise to be a security threat, South Korea sees it as an opportunity to bandwagon with China for economic gain. Furthermore, * Baogang Guo
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1
Dalton State College, Dalton, GA, USA
B. Guo
both countries have increasingly become dependent on China’s economic growth. The territorial dispute with China in the East China Sea has compelled Japan to strengthen its military ties with the U.S., and South Korea’s poor handing of the missile defense system led to a deterioration of South Korea-China relations in recent years. However, the strong nationalist sentiment against Japan on issues such as Bcomfort women^ also put pressure on the South Korean government to take sides between the two regional rivalries. The contributors in Part III examine the competition between China and U.S. in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. Taylor Fravel’s analysis in Chapter 8 reveals the difficult position the U.S. is in regarding China’s land reclamation in South China Sea. While the U.S. wants to show its ally in the region its commitment to protecting the security and stability, it does not want to involve itself excessively in the Philippine’s security and territorial claim. In Chapter 9, Robert Ross discusses the use of Bthird party coercion diplomacy^ during 2010–2012 in East Asia. China and United States each attempted to ask each other to pressure their allies, such as North Korea and Japan, to stop behaviors that would destabilize the region. However, the author points out that with the growing Chinese influence in the region, the role of this type of diplomacy is diminishing (p. 284). Contrary to power transition theory, this volume tells us that the rising power (China) has not gone to war to change the status quo, and the existing hegemonic power (U.S.) has not engaged in preemptive action to stop China’s rise and to preserve the status quo. Thus, power change has proceeded peacefully but has not yet resulted in a power shift (p. 288). Overall, this is a very balanced and scholarly account of the rise of China and various responses made by major players in East Asia. It enhances our understanding of power and politics in East Asia, and will help policymakers, researchers, and students of international relations to follow the power transition caused by the rise of China.
Baogang Guo is a professor of Political Science at Dalton State College.
