KeyCollaborators of MSRCIC Released the Annual Report on the Development ofSoutheast Asia in Beijing
2017-01-05
Recently, the Center forSoutheast Asian Studies of Xiamen University(a key collaborator of CollaborativeInnovation Center for 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Studiesand a Key Humanities Research Base of the Ministry of Education(MOE)) held therelease conference of the Blue Book of Southeast Asia: Annual Report on theDevelopment of Southeast Asia (2016) in Beijing.
Officials,scholars and journalists attended the conference. They came from centralministries, Beijing-based research institutes of international situation, SocialSciences Academic Press (China), Xiamen University, Xinhua NewsAgency, China News Service,China Radio International,People'sDaily and Chinese Social Sciences Weekly.
The report, compiled by theCenter for Southeast AsianStudies of Xiamen University, stood as the outcome of philosophy and social sciencesseries projects of the MOE.
Withthedevelopment of Southeast Asia in 2016 as the theme, the report analyzed andpredicted short and medium-term situation based on politics, economyand foreign relations of major countries, thus providing decisionmaking support toChina's diplomatic and regionalstrategies.
Prof.Wang Qin, Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies of XiamenUniversity, introduced main ideas and suggestions ofthe report. Attendants gave speeches on theabove-mentioned topic.
Southeast Asiacountries havemaintained political stability and moderate economic development in recentyears, and regional integration is in rapid development.
In 2016, majorregional political events included the convening of the 12thVCP National Congress in January, Presidential Election in thePhilippines in May and political instabilityin Thailand after itsKing passedaway.
In 2016, theworld witnessed slowereconomic growth. Southeast Asian countrieswere not exception, with most countries kept moderate growthand othersslow. Yet mid-term growth remained uncertain.
The ASEANCommunity was officially established by the end of 2015.During the constructionof the ASEAN Community, ASEAN’s regional economic strength and internationalcompetitivenessimproved; its single market and production base tookshape; it achieved progress in regional political coordination andsecurity cooperation, and its regional social and cultural development has achievedinitial results.
On the otherhand, ASEAN has formulatedthe ASEAN Community Vision 2025, which laidsolid ground for ASEAN community construction in the next decade.In 2016, new progresswas made, and several frameworkagreements being implemented.
Theseagreements included: ASEAN Service Trade Agreement, ASEAN TradeFacilitation Agreement, ASEAN Food Safety Regulation, ASEAN TradeQuery System and ASEAN Open Sky Agreement.
However, theintegration progress is still long and hard, because ASEANcountries have various political systems, development phases and ideologies, andinsufficient internalcooperation and coordination systems. All of the above are factors underminingthe effects of the Vision.
SoutheastAsian countries rely heavily on balanced diplomacy, and advocates policies tobalance major powers. The maintenance of internal relations in ASEAN isregarded as the foundation of ASEAN countries’ diplomacy. As a result, ASEANcountries kept good relations with each other.
In November2015, the United States upgraded the US-ASEAN relations to strategicpartnership becauseASEAN is the key area of its "Pivot to Asia
Since Trumptook office, the US policy towards Southeast Asia deserves the attention fromthe international community.
Meanwhile,Japan attached great concerns to the Southeast Asia, in order tocozy ASEAN countriesin to stand against China in the East ChinaSea and the South China Sea issues.Moreover, ASEAN market provided greatpotential for Japanese economic growth.
Southeast Asiais one of China’s most important neighboring regions as well as thepriority during the construction of the 21st Century Maritime SilkRoad.
Strategicdocking can be gradually carried out since the ASEAN Community Vision coincides withthe "Belt and Road" Initiative in many aspects: politicaltrust, economic integration and culture inclusiveness are core values of both the ASEANCommunity Visionand the“Belt and Road” Initiative.China andASEAN also share similarities in strategic planning, key cooperation fields, production capacitycooperation and people-to-people exchange.
As the rise ofASEAN economy and the implementation of “Belt and Road”Initiative, ASEAN’s role willbecome more crucial, and its importance in international productioncapacity cooperation and connectivity will stand out.
Xinhuanet, ChinaNews.com, People’s Daily Online, CRI Online and ChineseSocial Sciences Netcovered the release conference.
