Sino-Philippine relations as the modern tributary game

This article examines the China-Philippines relations in the South China Sea (SCS) from 1997 to 2017. The premise is that the China's interaction with litigating neighbors in the SCS (such as Vietnam and the Philippines) is shaped by strategic, political-economic and symbolic relations analogou...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bruno Hendler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Brasileira de Relações Internacionais 2019-05-01
Series:Carta Internacional
Online Access:https://www.cartainternacional.abri.org.br/Carta/article/view/877
_version_ 1818264986140540928
author Bruno Hendler
author_facet Bruno Hendler
author_sort Bruno Hendler
collection DOAJ
description This article examines the China-Philippines relations in the South China Sea (SCS) from 1997 to 2017. The premise is that the China's interaction with litigating neighbors in the SCS (such as Vietnam and the Philippines) is shaped by strategic, political-economic and symbolic relations analogous to the dynamics of the Imperial China with the nomadic peoples of Central Asia in the so-called "tributary game" (Zhou, 2011). The central hypothesis is that, just as the tributary game lasted for centuries in an asymmetric but relatively stable pattern, the same asymmetrical and stable pattern tends to prevail in the contemporary stage. In this scenario of a de facto Chinese control of many positions in the SCS and the expectation of economic gains by the Philippines, it is more likely that the tributary game shall move away from a conflictive stance and towards the conciliation-submission stance consolidated by the mutual learning process and by the inevitable economic and diplomatic gravitation of Asian countries around China.
first_indexed 2024-12-12T19:43:37Z
format Article
id doaj.art-066fbf98190b468ebe7a70093fde21e0
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2526-9038
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-12T19:43:37Z
publishDate 2019-05-01
publisher Associação Brasileira de Relações Internacionais
record_format Article
series Carta Internacional
spelling doaj.art-066fbf98190b468ebe7a70093fde21e02022-12-22T00:14:09ZengAssociação Brasileira de Relações InternacionaisCarta Internacional2526-90382019-05-01141527910.21530/ci.v14n1.2019.877877Sino-Philippine relations as the modern tributary gameBruno Hendler0Universidade Federal de GoiásThis article examines the China-Philippines relations in the South China Sea (SCS) from 1997 to 2017. The premise is that the China's interaction with litigating neighbors in the SCS (such as Vietnam and the Philippines) is shaped by strategic, political-economic and symbolic relations analogous to the dynamics of the Imperial China with the nomadic peoples of Central Asia in the so-called "tributary game" (Zhou, 2011). The central hypothesis is that, just as the tributary game lasted for centuries in an asymmetric but relatively stable pattern, the same asymmetrical and stable pattern tends to prevail in the contemporary stage. In this scenario of a de facto Chinese control of many positions in the SCS and the expectation of economic gains by the Philippines, it is more likely that the tributary game shall move away from a conflictive stance and towards the conciliation-submission stance consolidated by the mutual learning process and by the inevitable economic and diplomatic gravitation of Asian countries around China.https://www.cartainternacional.abri.org.br/Carta/article/view/877
spellingShingle Bruno Hendler
Sino-Philippine relations as the modern tributary game
Carta Internacional
title Sino-Philippine relations as the modern tributary game
title_full Sino-Philippine relations as the modern tributary game
title_fullStr Sino-Philippine relations as the modern tributary game
title_full_unstemmed Sino-Philippine relations as the modern tributary game
title_short Sino-Philippine relations as the modern tributary game
title_sort sino philippine relations as the modern tributary game
url https://www.cartainternacional.abri.org.br/Carta/article/view/877
work_keys_str_mv AT brunohendler sinophilippinerelationsasthemoderntributarygame