China Seminar | 14 April 2011

China and Southeast Asia: Current Developments

James R. Corcoran

The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) claim over the sovereignty of the South China Sea places it in direct interaction with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Land borders with Burma, Laos, and Vietnam further involve China with those nations. The PRC’s relations and interaction with the remaining four nations of Southeast Asia: Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste rest primarily on shared finance, trade, and geo-political interests. The presence and role of overseas Chinese communities in the nations of Southeast Asia are of great importance to both China and each country in the region. As China continues to grow economically and militarily it casts an ever lengthening shadow of influence and access over Southeast Asia and the South China Sea. How are the nations of the region coping with China’s increasing role in the area and what are the prospects for the future? This presentation will provide up-to-date information and more.

Jim Corcoran received his Ph.D. in Modern Chinese History and an MA in Asian Studies from UHM. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a retired U.S. Army colonel, Dr. Corcoran is an Adjunct Faculty in history and international (Asian) studies at HPU. He has studied, and worked in China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Bangladesh, and Indonesia; and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the Defense Language Institute (Mandarin Chinese and Bahasa Indonesian). Over the years, he has researched and written extensively on Asian security issues, papers on China, Asia, and military history, and on issues involving security, strategy and history of Asia relating to war, conflict resolution and diplomacy.