China's foreign policy in Southeast Asia: Harmonious worldview and its impact on good neighbor diplomacy

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With its rapid rise after the Cold War, China regards a peaceful and stable global envi-ronment not only as a stabilizer for development, but also as an important foundation for the country to promote connection and integration with the international politi-cal-economic system (Hsu, 2007). On the one hand, China promotes the concept of a “harmonious worldview” to counter the the impression of a “China threat,” on the other hand, China hopes to improve its relations with neighboring countries through bilateral and multilateral approaches under the policy guidance of “good neighbor diplomacy,” in order to reduce security threats and construct a regional environment favorable for eco-nomic development. Under the harmonious worldview concept, China has actively sought various bilateral and multilateral initiatives with ASEAN and the establishment of bilateral free trade agreements. With traditional security problems under control and temporarily resolved, China hopes to strengthen cooperation with Southeast Asia in the realm of non-traditional security. This paper aims to provide a clear explanation of China’s foreign policy in South-east Asia in the post Cold War period and a rough sketch of future developments. This paper first discusses the meaning of the harmonious worldview concept and good neighbor diplomacy, laying a foundation for understanding China’s foreign policy in Southeast Asia. The paper then details changes in Chinese foreign policy in Southeast Asia by analyzing China’s strategic goals and policy accomplishments in the region. New security concept, harmonious worldview and China’s new diplomacy Emergence of the New Security Concept and Related Policy Development After China began to actively pursue multilateral diplomacy and issued its strategic