The Deer and the Dragon: Southeast Asia and China in the 2V Century.

• Author: Sun, Yun
• Position: Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia - Book review

The Deer and the Dragon: Southeast Asia and China in the 2V Century. Edited by Donald K. Emmerson. Stanford, California: Walter H. Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center, 2020. Softcover: 375pp.

Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia. By David M. Lampton, Selina Ho and Cheng-Chwee Kuik. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 2020. Hardcover: 336pp.

As intellectual curiosity about China's expanding influence in Southeast Asia grows, studies concerning the relationship between the region and its giant northern neighbour are flourishing. This year alone, at least six books have been published on Southeast Asia's relations with China. Two among them are particularly interesting and unique in terms of their intellectual rigour and analytical perspectives: The Deer and the Dragon: Southeast Asia and China in the 21 (s)' Century, edited by Donald K. Emmerson, and Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia, by David M. Lampton, Selina Ho and Cheng-Chwee Kuik.

In The Deer and the Dragon, Emmerson, one of the most eminent thinkers on Southeast Asia, has rallied an army of top regional experts to examine the nature, dynamics and implications of the power asymmetries between China and the countries of Southeast Asia. In the region's folklore, the motif of the mouse-deer and dragon represents the triumph of brain over brawn. Drawing from that analogy, the book critically investigates the myths and realities of China's preponderance in the region to draw attention to how Southeast Asian countries have been adept at employing strategies such as hedging and balancing to counter China, while also leveraging regional organizations and mechanisms to maximize their strategic autonomy.

The Deer and the Dragon provides a sobering reality check on several key fronts. It examines regional perceptions of China and the United States while identifying their respective leadership deficiencies as Great Powers. It challenges the conventional wisdom that Southeast Asia is China's "strategic backyard", highlighting the differences between Chinese aspirations for the region and Southeast Asia's resistance to China's hegemonic vision. For example, Li Mingjiang discusses Chinese traditional perceptions of Southeast Asia, which forms an illuminating contrast to the region's views of China, as discussed by Yun-han Chu, Min-hua Huang and Jie Lu. See Seng Tan presents a dissection of Singapore's coping strategy with China, which reveals the importance of the strategies and the desire for strategic autonomy in comparison to Indonesia's "underbalancing" of China as explained by...