RCEP and the Maintenance of ASEAN Centrality:An Analysis Based on Practical Perspective
Few studies have offered a positive answer to the question of whether RCEP could maintain ASEAN centrality or not,however,it is taken for granted that the result would be optimistic.From the perspective of social prac-tice,ASEAN centrality consists of three dimensions:field,capital and anchoring practice,corresponding respectively to the special position in the great power competition,the continuous transformation of ASEAN capital accumulation and the external aspect of the"ASEAN Way".Therefore,three conditions must be required to maintain ASEAN centrality:(1)Orderly competition among major countries in the Indo-Pacific field of power;(2)The capital stock within ASEAN remains stable or increase;(3)There has been no fundamental evolution of the the"ASEAN Way"as the anchoring prac-tice.In the same way,RCEP also has a three-dimensional practical connotation.From the perspective of field,the creation of RCEP as a"sub-field"might trigger institutional competition and consequently affect the ASEAN centrality under the premise of creating field distinction.From the perspective of capital,ideally RCEP can promote ASEAN's capital accumula-tion.From the perspective of anchoring practice,the in-depth development of RCEP may break through the"ASEAN Way",and its"hard regionalism"features are contradictory to the"ASEAN Way".Therefore,the three conditions for maintaining ASEAN centrality cannot be met at the same time if the RCEP goes smoothly,RCEP does not have a practical orientation that can maintain ASEAN centrality in an absolute sense.
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