26 May 2009

Timor-Leste: The Dragon's Newest Friend
Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC), Paris, France / Bangkok, Thailand
Supplied note:
"Timor-Leste: The Dragon's Newest Friend - By Loro Horta. Irasec Discussion Papers no. 4, May 2009.
On May 20, 2002 Timor-Leste became an independent and sovereign state. China became the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the newly established nation and has since maintained a growing presence on the island.
Three main factors have driven Beijing's policy towards East Timor:
Firstly, China's growing engagement with Timor-Leste is part of its overall expansion into Southeast Asia and its strategy to balance the United States' influence in the region. Secondly, Timor is likely to become an ASEAN member in 2012 which adds further incentives. The country's potentially large oil and gas reserves are unlikely to have gone unnoticed to an energy- thirsty China. Thirdly, China remains preoccupied with the possibility of Taiwan co-opting the fledging state into its camp. While the People's Republic of China's (PRC) presence in Timor pales in comparison to its presence in other Southeast Asian countries, it has grown rapidly and in a very short period of time. From a position of marginality in Timor's affairs just five years ago, China has grown to become a major player in the territory causing some apprehension in Australia which tends to view Timor as its exclusive patch.
The author:
Loro Horta is a graduate of Peoples Liberation Army National Defense University (PLANDU). Previous to his Chinese education he was educated in Australia, the United States and Singapore. His [... writings] on the Chinese military and other China related topics have been published by the Military Review, Australian Army Journal, Strategic Analysis the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington D.C, and Yale Magazine."
Extract:
"China has made substantial diplomatic gains in Timor-Leste at a very modest material cost; patience and sophisticated diplomacy had allowed Beijing to emerge in the eyes of the Timorese as a committed and much needed friend. The case of Timor-Leste also illustrates the increasing sophistication of Chinese diplomacy and its ability to utilize soft power as a counter to the 'China threat theory' which was so prevalent in the 1990s in Southeast Asia. The case of Timor-Leste therefore may be an indicator of future Chinese diplomatic strategy in the Third world as it tries to secure vital interests such as energy resources and markets."
Site contents:
* Introduction; * A brief history of Sino-Timorese relations; * The energy sector; * Defense and Military Cooperation; * Infrastructure development; * Technical cooperation; * Putting things into perspective; * China and other powers; * Patience is a virtue; * Conclusion.
[A PDF document, approx. 100KB strong - ed.]
URL http://irasec.com/components/com_irasec/media/upload/publication_file_fr_287.pdf
Link reported by: Arnaud Leveau (publications--at--irasec.com)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30