China’s influence over Southeast Asia cannot be understated. Though one is a nation-state and the other is a region, both China and Southeast Asia are diverse, complex, and, at times, full of conundrums. In attempting to come to better terms with the relationship between these two political entities, the “China, SEA, and Border” event will comprise two activities: book launches and a special seminar.
Three books will be launched during this event. As the lead editor of the first two titles to be published by the end of March this year, Yos Santasombat (Chiang Mai University) will present: China’s BRI in Southeast Asia: Concepts and Methodologies (Kyoto University Press & Trans Pacific Press, 2025) and The Impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia: Evaluating Risks and Benefits (Springer, 2025). The third title belongs to Enze Han (The University of Hong Kong): The Ripple Effect: China’s Complex Presence in Southeast Asia (Oxford University Press, 2024).
The special seminar will focus on the space of border by highlighting the methodological aspect of studying this kind of terrain. With varied approaches employed over the years by the three speakers—Yos Santasombat, Enze Han, and Decha Tangseefa (CSEAS)—the seminar aims to open a space for conversation of such differences: for instance, quantitative vis-à-vis qualitative, empiricism vis-à-vis phenomenology vis-à-vis poststructuralism.
Program
| 10:00–10:05 | Welcome Remarks: Fumiharu Mieno, Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) |
| 10:05–10:10 | A Briefing of the JSPS KAKENHI Grant No. 20H04422: “Sovereignty, Capitalization, and Uncertainty: Global Political Economy from the Vantage Points of Four SEA and GMS Borderlands”: Decha Tangseefa (CSEAS), Principal Investigator |
| 10:10–10:45 10:45–11:15 11:15–11:45 | Book Launch, Session 1: Yos Santasombat China’s BRI in Southeast Asia: Concepts and Methodologies (Kyoto University Press & Trans Pacific Press, 2025) The Impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia: Evaluating Risks and Benefits (Springer, 2025) Discussant: Enze Han Q&A Moderator: Tomoko Takahashi (CSEAS) |
| 11:45–13:15 | Lunch Break |
| 13:15–13:40 13:40–14:00 14:00–14:30 | Book Launch, Session 2: Enze Han The Ripple Effect: China’s Complex Presence in Southeast Asia (Oxford University Press, 2024) Discussant: Yos Santasombat Q&A Moderator: Yalei Zhai (CSEAS) |
| 14:30–14:45 | Coffee Break |
| 14:45–16:45 | Special Seminar: Studying Border: From Methodological Engagement to Kaleidoscopic Lifeworlds? 14:45–15:05 Enze Han: Quantitative vis-à-vis Qualtiative 15:05–15:25 Yos Santasombat: Empiricism vis-à-vis Phenomenology 15:25–15:45 Decha Tangseefa: From Epistemic Engagement to Kaleidoscopic Lifeworlds? 15:45–16:45 Speaker Conversation & Q&A Moderator: Julie de los Reyes (CSEAS) |
Yos Santasombat is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and Director, China-Southeast Asian Studies Center, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, and Senior Research Scholar, Thailand Research Fund. His English language publication includes Lak Chang: A Reconstruction of Tai Identity in Daikong (Canberra: Pandanus Books, ANU, 2001); Biodiversity, Local Knowledge and Sustainable Development (Chiang Mai: RCSD, 2003, 2014); Flexible Peasants: Reconceptualizing the Third World’s Rural Types (Chiang Mai: RCSD, 2008); The River of Life: Changing Ecosystems of the Mekong Region (Chiang Mai: Mekong Press, 2011); as well as the edited volumes Impact of China’s Rise in the Mekong Region (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) and Chinese Capitalism in South-east Asia: Cultures and Practices (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), and the Sociology of Chinese Capitalism: Challenges and Prospects (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), and Transnational Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia: Case Studies from Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore (Springer, 2022), Impact of China’s BRI on Southeast Asia: Evaluating Risks and Benefits (Springer 2025), China’s BRI in Southeast Asia: Concepts and Methodologies (Kyoto University Press & Trans Pacific Press, 2025).
Enze Han is Associate Professor at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, The University of Hong Kong. His publications include The Ripple Effect: China’s Complex Presence in Southeast Asia (Oxford University Press, 2024), Asymmetrical Neighbors: Borderland State Building between China and Southeast Asia (Oxford University Press, 2019), and Contestation and Adaptation: The Politics of National Identity in China (Oxford University Press, 2013), and more than 40 academic articles. He got his PhD from George Washington University.
This event is funded by the JSPS KAKENHI Grant No. 20H04422: “Sovereignty, Capitalization, and Uncertainty: Global Political Economy from the Vantage Points of Four SEA and GMS Borderlands.”