Relational Embeddedness And The Continuity Of Vietnam And The Philippines' South China Sea Policie

The South China Sea issue has become increasingly complex in recent years,with a clear trend of “internationalization,securitization,and juridification”,in which Vietnam and the Philippines,as important sovereignty claimants in the South China Sea,have played an important role.In general,Vietnam and the Philippines’ South China Sea policies after 2010 have gone through two phases,one promoting radicalization and the other emphasizing pragmatic cooperation,with volatility becoming the dominant feature of their South China Sea policies.The existing literature focuses on the fluctuations of the South China Sea policies of both Vietnam and the Philippines,which has limitations in explaining the policy continuity.Drawing on the concept of relational embeddedness in embeddedness theory,this paper argues that relational embeddedness can better explain the characteristics of continuity in the evolution of Vietnam’s and the Philippines’ South China Sea policies.In the process of legitimacy construction and foreign interaction,modern states inevitably establish strong ties with a specific group of states,among which two actors with obvious power asymmetry,but with efficient resource reciprocity and direct and stable communication channels,have strong relational embeddedness in their interactions,which in turn affects the setting of interest goals and action paths in the state’s foreign policy and is the main source of foreign policy continuity.This paper argues that Vietnam and the Philippines have formed strong relational embeddedness with China and the United States,respectively,making their South China Sea policies characterized by continuity.Vietnam’s strong relationship embeddedness with China is reflected in the reciprocal development and inter-party information communication between the two countries.Despite Vietnam’s contradictions with China over the South China Sea,the strong relationship embeddedness with China provides resources for Vietnam’s political and economic development,and the good inter-party communication mechanism provides information receiving mechanism for Vietnam to flexibly adjust its action strategies.Therefore,on the basis of maintaining the overall stability of Sino-Vietnamese relations,adjusting the action strategy at the right time has become a continuous connotation of Vietnam’s South China Sea policy.As a key ally in the U.S.strategic layout in Southeast Asia,the Philippines receives political support and defense resources from the U.S.Therefore,on the South China Sea issue,the Philippines’ policy and operational strategy formulation largely cater to the U.S.policy adjustment,and the fit to the U.S.strategic adjustment becomes the connotation of the continuity of the Philippines’ South China Sea policy.The connotation of the Philippines’ South China Sea policy continuity is the fit with U.S.strategic adjustments.