China and Vietnam: The Politics of Asymmetry

by Brantly Womack

• ISBN13: 9780521618342
• ISBN10: 0521618347
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In their three thousand years of interaction, China and Vietnam have been through a full range of relationships. Twenty-five years ago they were one another's worst enemies; fifty years ago they were the closest of comrades. Five hundred years ago they each saw themselves as Confucian empires; fifteen hundred years ago Vietnam was a part of China. Throughout all these fluctuations the one constant has been that China is always the larger power, and Vietnam the smaller. China has rarely been able to dominate Vietnam, and yet the relationship is shaped by its asymmetry. The Sino-Vietnamese relationship provides the perfect ground for developing and exploring the effects of asymmetry on international relations. Womack develops his theory in conjunction with an original analysis of the interaction between China and Vietnam from the Bronze Age to the present.

Table of Contents

Tables, Figures, and Maps	ix
Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(7)
The Book in Brief	4	(4)
1 General Overview	8	(25)
Relational Attitudes: The Rock and the Giant	9	(1)
China and Vietnam in Comparison	10	(7)
Asymmetry and International Relations Theory	17	(6)
The Phases of the Sino-Vietnamese Relationship	23	(10)
PART ONE: BASIC STRUCTURE
2 The Parameters of China's External Posture	33	(23)
Size	35	(4)
Centricity and Localism	39	(9)
Resource Sufficiency	48	(3)
The Challenge of Sustenance	51	(1)
History	52	(4)
3 Vietnam's Basic Parameters	56	(21)
Geography	57	(5)
Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism	62	(3)
Resource Imbalance	65	(4)
Integration and Diversity	69	(2)
History	71	(6)
4 The Politics of Asymmetry	77	(18)
Symmetry and Asymmetry	78	(2)
The Politics of Inattention	80	(2)
The Politics of Overattention	82	(2)
Deference, Autonomy, and Misperception	84	(1)
Stalemate and Normalization	85	(4)
Managing Asymmetry	89	(6)
PART TWO: THE RELATIONAL DYNAMIC
5 From the Beginnings to Vietnamese Independence	95	(22)
Before China and Vietnam: Pre-imperial Relationships	95	(9)
Vietnam as Part of China	104	(10)
Asymmetry before Independence	114	(3)
6 Unequal Empires	117	(25)
Establishing Autonomy and Deference: Song to Ming	120	(9)
Unequal Empires, 1427-1858	129	(10)
The Chinese Empire as an International Political Order	139	(3)
7 The Brotherhood of Oppression: 1840-1950	142	(20)
The Western Collision, 1840-1900	143	(5)
Fates Compared: China's Total Crisis versus Colonialism in Vietnam, 1900-1950	148	(5)
Revolutionary Comradeship	153	(7)
Asymmetry Distressed	160	(2)
8 Lips and Teeth: 1950-1975	162	(24)
Intimate Comradeship, 1950-1965	164	(10)
Clenched Teeth, 1965-1975	174	(9)
Dependent Asymmetry and the Two Vietnams	183	(3)
9 Illusions of Victory: 1975-1991	186
Illusions of Victory 1975-1979	189	(11)
Hostile Isolation, 1979-1990	200	(9)
The Cycle of Systemic Misperception	209
10 From Normalization to Normalcy	112	(126)
Normalization, 199T-T999	213	(12)
Normalcy	225	(10)
Mature Asymmetry	235	(3)
11 Change and Structure in Asymmetry	238	(19)
Varieties of Asymmetry	239	(8)
Asymmetry's Deep Structure	247	(5)
Challenges to Normalcy	252	(5)
Appendix: Glossary of Terms	257	(4)
Bibliography	261	(14)
Index	275