Paradiplomacy in Asia

Asian regions and cities have become important international actors but the phenomenon of international engagement of regional and local governments in the Asian countries is still not sufficiently described and recognized in the scientific literature. So far, the research on paradiplomacy mostly concentrated on Europe and North America. However, as shown in this study, the regularities present in Western countries are not necessarily universal. The distinctive features of each Asia n country create quite unique contexts, in which sub-regional actors have to develop their international strategies. Same of those contexts were presented in this study in order to provide better understanding of the conditions of paradiplomacy in Asia.

Introduction 7 Chapter 1. Paradiplomacy – Discourse Analysis and Research Conceptualization (Tomasz Kamiński) 11 1.1. Introduction 13 1.2. Problems with definition 14 1.3. Paradiplomacy in the frames of international relations theories 17 1.4. Literature review 21 1.5. Research conceptualization and methodology 27 1.6. Conclusions 34 References 35 Chapter 2. Paradiplomacy in India As Exemplified by the State of Gujarat (Grzegorz Bywalec) 39 2.1. Introduction 41 2.2. The territorial organisation and the system of government in India as the main determinant of paradiplomacy in India 46 2.3. The international activity undertaken by states in India – nationwide experience 53 2.4. Case of Gujarat 74 2.5. In lieu of conclusions 88 References 90 Chapter 3. Channelling Foreign Policy Through Local Activities in China: City of Guangzhou Case Study (Dominik Mierzejewski) 93 3.1. Introduction 95 3.2. Chinese legal framework of paradiplomatic activities 96 3.3. The Chinese debates over paradiplomacy 104 3.4. Paradiplomacy in action: the case study of Guangzhou 108 3.5. Foreign representatives in Guangzhou and multilateral forums 119 3.6. Promoting Guangzhou through industries: exhibition, aviation and sport 125 3.7. Conclusions 130 References 132 Chapter 4. The International Activity of Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation on the Case of the Far East (Małgorzata Pietrasiak, Michał Słowikowski) 137 4.1. The significance of paradiplomacy of the Russian Far East 139 4.2. Research method and chapter structure 141 4.3. The evolution of federal relations in Russia 142 4.4. The evolution of federal legislation regulating rules of international activity of the Russian Federation’s federal subjects 144 4.5. Typology of forms of international activity of the Russian regions 147 4.6. Conditions of regional international activity 149 4.7. The level of frequency of international activity of Russian regions 152 4.8. Russian federal elites’ strategic culture and its influence on regions international activity 157 4.9. Two models of centre-regions relations due to international activity of Russian regions 161 4.10. Institutionalization and diversification of the centralized-coordinative model in centre-regions relations due to regional international cooperation 163 4.11. Implications of federal centre policy due to international activity from regions and their interest perspective 167 4.12. Conditions, institutionalization and internationalization level of the Far East regions 169 4.13. Case studies – profile of international activity of regions with the highest level of internationalization 175 4.14. Geopolitical dimension of the far eastern policy of the federal centre 183 4.15. Centralized-coordinative model due to the Russian Far East 188 4.16. Critical analysis of the centre’s policy to the Far East 192 4.17. The international activity of the Far East’s regions due to regional elites 194 4.18. Conclusions 197 References 202 5. Conclusions 209 Annex 1. Guangzhou sister cities (2015) 221 Annex 2. Comparative Analysis for Guangzhou’s Sister Cities 222 Annex 3. International Activity of Regions of the Far Eastern Federal District Survey 224 Annex 4. Regional Internalisation Index for China, India and Russia 226 List of Figures and Tables 229