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Forthcoming

RIVERS OF IRON: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia | By David M. Lampton, Selina Ho, and Cheng-Chwee Kuik

Berkeley: University of California Press, 2020. xxii, 307 pp. (Maps, tables.) US$29.95, cloth. ISBN 978-0-520-37299-3.


This book explores China’s ongoing efforts to join with its continental Southeast Asian neighbours and Singapore to realize a broadly shared vision of building a rail network to improve connectivity between China and Southeast Asia. It examines this process from multiple perspectives, including the vision, domestic debates, and policy processes of China and of the Southeast Asian countries, as well as implications for the US, Japan, and other countries. Drawing on frameworks in the fields of international relations and comparative politics, it investigates how domestic factors in  each of the countries affect their external behaviours and policy choices.

Following an introductory chapter that outlines the book’s key research questions, methods, and significance, chapter 2 reviews the evolution of the grand vision of rail connectivity between China and Southeast Asia, and also provides background on China’s history of railway development, especially its remarkable achievements in developing high-speed railway (HSR) technology. The authors argue that the creation of China’s HSR system and the desire to strengthen regional rail connectivity rely on a convergence of preexisting ideas, the development of financial and technological capabilities over a short period of time, and the strategic efforts of Chinese leaders to enhance China’s influence in the regional and global economy.

Chapter 3 addresses how domestic debates and political factors affect China’s rail development abroad. The authors suggest that while China’s efforts to promote rail development and infrastructure connectivity in Southeast Asia might appear to be a coherent, well-orchestrated initiative, the reality is messier, with different bureaucracies, localities, and groups pursuing their own interests under the broad central policy umbrella. They also point out that there are admirable core ideas undergirding China’s push toward connectivity with Southeast Asia, including the vision of growth through urbanization and the idea of infrastructure serving as a lead force propelling broad-based economic growth.

Chapter 4 analyzes the role of domestic factors in shaping the diverse outlooks and policy responses of Southeast Asian countries toward China’s railroad diplomacy, ranging from “receptive embrace” (Laos), “selective and flexible engagement” (Thailand), “recalibrated partnership” (Malaysia), and “limited involvement” (Vietnam and some other member countries of ASEAN). The authors establish that a country’s socioeconomic level and developmental needs matter, and the features of a country’s domestic political system and regime legitimation are important.

Chapter 5 examines some of the negotiations between China and HSR host countries in Southeast Asia. Using case studies, the authors show that smaller states have agency and, to varying degrees, are able to negotiate better terms than might be expected. China has also demonstrated great power restraint in some cases. The chapter highlights the region’s move toward greater rail connectivity, but along uncertain pathways and complex, indeterminate negotiations.

Chapter 6 assesses the challenges of policy implementation, with particular attention to political, financial, socio-cultural, and technological dimensions. It examines the various factors that may cause the rail projects to be delayed, renegotiated, or even cancelled, focusing on the hurdles brought about by the bargaining problems under weak “interest-aggregating structures,” “the complexity of joint action,” and the weaknesses in state capacity. It shows that the implementation process is messy and has been a disjointed, incremental and uncertain process, but more learning and adjustment may lead to better outcomes in the future. In the longer term, the rail network connecting China and Southeast Asia will likely transform Asia.

Chapter 7 deals with the geopolitical and geo-economic factors shaping rail connectivity development in Southeast Asia. It assesses the international dynamics shaping the evolving patterns of Southeast Asia-China engagement in rail projects. It argues that geo-economic considerations formed the driving force in the 1990s and the first decade of  the twentieth century, but geopolitics and strategic concerns have risen in importance for all parties over the past decade. In particular, the rail connectivity between China and Southeast Asia is provoking geostrategic reactions from other countries such as Japan.

Chapter 8 assesses the broad implications of the increasing rail connectivity between China and Southeast Asia for China, Asia, and the world, including lessons for development theory and practice, insights into China’s policy-making processes, negotiations, and cross-border policy implementation, as well as the strategic consequences for all players. The authors argue that the “China approach” of promoting connectivity, which combines strategic direction, entrepreneurialism, and opportunism, willingness to work with other countries, and a capacity to focus resources, should not be under-estimated.

This book provides a vivid account and a comprehensive comparative analysis of the rail projects development between China and Southeast Asia, with rich empirical details and analytical insights. The writing style is very clear and accessible to a general readership. The authors make a major contribution to the literature on international and comparative political economy. It should be required reading for researchers and students interested in this topic.


Chen Li

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong


Last Revised: January 30, 2023
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