How Southeast Asians are Making China Adapt to Local Needs

project

China Local/Global

A dominant narrative, especially in Washington, is that China extends its global influence by exporting its developmental model and imposing it on other countries. But China also extends its influence by working through local actors and institutions while adapting and assimilating local and traditional forms, norms, and practices. With the generous support of the Ford Foundation, Carnegie has launched an innovative body of research on Chinese engagement in seven regions of the world—Africa, Central Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, the Pacific, South Asia, and Southeast Asia—exploring these adaptive Chinese strategies that work within local realities and are mostly ignored by Western policymakers. We also publish in local languages, from Arabic to Burmese to Urdu, to better reach local audiences.

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Many in the West, especially Washington, argue that China extends its global influence by exporting and imposing its developmental model on other countries. But this analysis ignores the ways in which Chinese engagement sometimes accommodates local actors —adapting and assimilating local forms, norms, and practices. What often results is that local players successfully push the Chinese to meet local expectations or demands. What strategies and approaches explain these successes, and what can be learned from them?

Join the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for a panel conversation on how local players in three Southeast Asian countries—the Philippines, Malaysia, and Myanmar—pushed Chinese actors to adapt to local conditions. The panelists’ publications are part of a multiyear project of the Carnegie Endowment in Washington that explores Chinese adaptation strategies in seven regions of the world, from Latin America to North Africa and to Southeast Asia.

This event is cosponsored by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. In-person registrants should note that this event will take place at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs at 60A Orchard Road, #04M Tower 1, Atrium@ Orchard, International Involvement Hub, S238890

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

project

China Local/Global

A dominant narrative, especially in Washington, is that China extends its global influence by exporting its developmental model and imposing it on other countries. But China also extends its influence by working through local actors and institutions while adapting and assimilating local and traditional forms, norms, and practices. With the generous support of the Ford Foundation, Carnegie has launched an innovative body of research on Chinese engagement in seven regions of the world—Africa, Central Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, the Pacific, South Asia, and Southeast Asia—exploring these adaptive Chinese strategies that work within local realities and are mostly ignored by Western policymakers. We also publish in local languages, from Arabic to Burmese to Urdu, to better reach local audiences.

Learn More

How Southeast Asians are Making China Adapt to Local Needs

Registration