ความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างจีนกับอาเซียนทางด้านความมั่นคง : ศึกษากรณีจีนเข้าร่วมการประชุมอาเซียน ว่าด้วยความร่วมมือด้านการเมืองและความมั่นคงในภูมิภาคเอเชียแปซิฟิก / วราภรณ์ พรหมรัตน์ = Sino-ASEAN security relation : a case study of the People's Republic of China's participation in the ASEAN Regional Rorum / Waraporn Promrut
This thesis focuses on the security relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and ASEAN in the post-cold war era. The emphasis is to explain why the PRC joined the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)---a multi-lateral meeting. Previously, the PRC had emphatically refused to adopt a multilateral method for solving security problems in the region, because she believed that she could have an edge over lesser states through bi-lateral negotiations. If the multi-lateral method is applied, the PRC thought that she would be in an unfavorable position because she must deal with a group of states. In making this study, the concept of international regime is used to explain why the PRC changed her position and joined the ARF. In this study, it is found that the PRC participated in the ARF because she wanted to reduce the level of distrust which ASEAN members had on her. The distrust was a result of the aggressive stand which the PRC had on the sovereignty disputes over of the Spratly Islands and the enlargement of the PRC's military strength. Furthermore, the PRC wanted prevent some ASEAN members (at that time) and Vietnam to consolidate their position on the Spratlys issue. In addition, the PRC needed to reduce the level of influence that other powers increasingly had on multi-lateral security forum in the region. After joining the ARF, it is found that the PRC gained access to information on regional security and was largely able to steer the ARF into a venue for discussion of security issues, not a mechanism in solving security problems. As for ASEAN, the participation of the PRC inthe ARF has contributed to the development of the ARF. Moreover, ASEAN as a core group of the ARF gained from the participation of major powers.
