An \u27Asia Model\u27? A Relationist View on Regionalism and China\u27s Regional Identity

In an increasingly interconnected global order, governments are experiencing growing pressures to engage in cooperative and integrative processes. Indeed, regionalism has become a primary objective for all regions. East Asia is no exception. Using the European Union as a model, scholars generally regard East Asian regionalism as a failure. With an emphasis on \u27process\u27 over \u27progress\u27 East Asian regionalist institutions lack the institutional formality and accountability mechanisms valued by Western standards on regionalism. I do not dispute these claims about East Asian regionalism so much as to propose a different interpretation allowed by applying a different theoretical lens. I subscribe to a relationalist framework that emphasizes relations vis-a-vis networks and identity, instead of a substantialist framework (the study of physical institutional entities). This allows me to analyze the ways in which relational processes in East Asia are changing the very identities and objectives of member nations. I analyze foreign policy speeches and documents released by the People\u27s Republic of China during the span of 3 essential time periods: the Mao Zedong era, the era of reform led by Deng Xiaoping, and the current administration of President Hu Jintao. In these documents I examine particular shifts in China\u27s guiding foreign policy ideology in order to observe a growing Chinese \u27regional identity\u27. Through this I defend the idea that there is a dynamic and differentiated \u27East Asian\u27 Model\u27 of regionalism