China and its Neighbors: Trade Leverage, Interdependence and Conflict

摘要

Economically, China, ASEAN and other countries in the region are highly integrated. From an economic perspective, this is reflected in the rapid increase in trade and investment flows. As China grows fast and trade relations with its neighbours increase rapidly, the phenomenon may lead to a situation where China uses its trade strength against its partners as a political tool. Similarly, some of its trade partners may possess certain soft power against China by using trade as a potential leverage. This can be defined in terms of import strength or export strength of a particular country and its dependence on China. This paper tries to analyse how the import and export dependence among East Asian countries work as a potential leverage that is utilized for political gains and national power projections. It also tests whether trade dependence can avert military conflicts in East Asia or not.