Dr Trissia Wijaya1
1University of Melbourne, Australia
Abstract:
Once revered as the primary developer of physical infrastructure in Southeast Asia, China has now assumed a pioneering role in promoting green technology and facilitating the region’s energy transition, projecting a new form of green soft power in the region. In particular, this shift encompasses investments in the ‘New Three’ – EV, battery, and solar panel. Existing literature on the subject tends to oscillate between notions of state capitalism and environmental statecraft, with both emphasizing the role of state capacity as the key factor behind China’s initiatives. Yet, in actuality, what are the underlying forces driving this transformative trend? Why has this transformation unfolded so suddenly and dramatically and how this dynamic in turn reshape Southeast Asia’s – the immediate neighbour – industrial landscape and decarbonisation trajectory? In this paper, advancing the concept of accidental green soft power and combined development, we attempt not only to unpack the essential state interests but also to grasp the trajectory of neoliberal globalisation that underpin China’s ‘green power’ agenda and subsequently reshape economic cooperations between China and Southeast Asia countries.