Post-Communism the Mekong Way: Sino-Investment in the CLMV Countries

• In Event: Plural Pathways: Chinese Investment, Communist & Post-Communist Developmentalism

Abstract

Anti-colonial communist struggles in Mekong Southeast Asia, their historical tensions with the People’s Republic of China and the recent expansion of diplomatic, trade and investment links
between China and the post-communist/socialist transition states of Lao PDR, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar have remained relatively understudied. This paper provides a comparative historical discussion of the relative transitions from war and autarky which accompanied the trajectories of these post-colonial and post-communist/socialist regimes. The paper discusses the historical dimensions which have allowed Vietnam and Myanmar to hedge against dependency on Chinese investment while the latter two cases have pivoted towards closer Chinese bilateral links. A closer examination and discussion of the relative liberalization paths of the comparative cases and their engagement with international political economy actors reveals different colonial legacies and pathways are shaping national engagements with Chinese state capitalism. The paper offers a contribution to wider literature by delineating typologies of asymmetric South-South dependency under conditions of communist and post-socialist authoritarian rule.

Author

• Pon Souvannaseng, Bentley University