Chinese Paradiplomacy at the Peripheries: Beyond the Hinterland

This book explores how Chinese border provinces have become actors in international relations.

Through an analysis of the international actorness - the inherent characteristics of a subnational entity as an international player - of Yunnan and two other geographically peripheral provinces, Guangdong and Guangxi, the domestic, economic, and legislative circumstances that motivated these provinces to conduct transboundary engagements are determined. The book is based on an extensive field study including interviews with those involved in the implementation of Yunnan’s foreign agenda, representatives from province-owned enterprises, universities and think tanks, and officials and experts from the countries neighboring Yunnan. Acknowledging the role of external geopolitics, the authors analyze the efforts of these border provinces to incentivize neighboring countries to cooperate with them on areas of trade, investment, and nontraditional security. Yao Song and Tianyang Liu also observe how border provinces have leveraged their paradiplomatic strengths to affect China’s foreign relations with neighboring countries.

This volume will appeal to researchers, academics, and postgraduates in political science, international relations, and diplomacy as well as geography, Southeast Asian politics, political economy, Chinese periphery diplomacy, and nonfederal paradiplomacy.

Yao Song is a research fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen). At present, he is working on subnational diplomacy, mainland China-Hong Kong relations, and China’s foreign policy. His recent works are published in International Affairs, Critical Asian Studies, The Pacific Review, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific and others.

Tianyang Liu is an associate professor in the School of Politics and Public Administration at Wuhan University. Tianyang’s research is divided into three main streams: the first is focused on security and China; the second deals with China’s international relations, with a special interest in Chinese paradiplomacy; and the third is focused on post-pandemic China under Xi Jinping. His recent publications appear in International Affairs, Political Geography, Critical Asian Studies, The Pacific Review, Terrorism and Political Violence, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, Comunicar, Asian Studies Review, Political Studies Review, International Communication Gazette and others.