Evolution Characteristics And Driving Factors Of Geographical Relations Among China And Southeast Asian Countries From 1979 To 2019

Southeast Asia is not only the anchorage of China’s Maritime Silk Road,but also the springboard for China to move towards the world.Southeast Asia has the special geographical space and resource advantages of land and sea,which is of great strategic significance.However,in recent years,some countries in Southeast Asia are insecure about China’s rapid rise,big countries such as the United States,Japan and India have shifted their strategic focus to this place,Southeast Asian countries have taken the opportunity to implement the strategy of balancing big countries to contain China,and disputes among countries within ASEAN have led to disagreement,so it is urgent for China to make strategic adjustments.It is of great significance to sort out the geographical relations between China and Southeast Asian countries,to safeguard China’s security and promote economic development,to promote the proper settlement of disputes in the South China Sea,to promote the practical and efficient implementation of the "the belt and road initiative" initiative in the region,to coordinate the relations between China and other major powers,and to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.Based on GDELT database,the geographical relationship between China and Southeast Asian countries from 1979 to 2019 is divided into two aspects: conflict and cooperation.Firstly,the cooperation and conflict of 12 countries are divided into time stages by using ageconstrained clustering method.Secondly,the overall and local structural relationship between12 countries is explored by using social network analysis and community exploration analysis.Finally,the bilateral relationship between China and 11 Southeast Asian countries is calculated and analyzed by using Shannon entropy.On this basis,the driving factors of the evolution characteristics of geographical relations between China and Southeast Asian countries are considered from three levels: system,country and individual.After analyzing the evolution characteristics and driving factors of geographical relations between China and Southeast Asian countries,this paper puts forward some suggestions on the sustainable development of geographical relations between China and Southeast Asian countries from three dimensions:China’s own development,the handling of internal relations between China and Southeast Asian countries,and the handling of disputes in the South China Sea and the balancing of relations with major powers.This study finds that the geographical relationship between China and Southeast Asian countries presents a stage and gradual evolution process,which has gone through three evolution stages.The cooperation and conflicts among countries in each stage generally show a similar trend,and the conflicts are more severe than the changes in cooperation.China’s cooperation and conflicts increase with the deepening dependence of Southeast Asian countries on China’s economy;The geographically concentrated and neighboring countries are more likely to form the same community.The overall network relationship of the 12 countries is mainly cooperation,and the geographical cooperation links have evolved from countries in the same community to closer communities.China has gradually become the core of the network,and the number of cooperative countries with Southeast Asian countries has increased,while conflicts are concentrated in individual countries that have disputes with China in the South China Sea;The prominent bilateral relations and their driving factors are different at different stages,but Sino-Vietnamese relations and the South China Sea issue are the main contradictions.The intervention of major powers,the competition of interests among major countries in the region in politics,economy,society and culture,and the change of national leaders have jointly influenced the evolution of geographical relations between China...