Page 157 - 《国际安全研究》2021年第6期

Vo1. 39, No. 6, November/December 2021
borderlands. Since modern times, the awareness of protecting national boundary line has
been greatly enhanced and the “overall national security concept” has become the
dominant though in managing national security issues. Hence, the security concept has
changed from taking the “imperial power” as the core to taking the “nation state” as the
pivot, from focusing on “internal defense” and “land defense” to emphasizing “external
defense” and “sea defense”, thus making further strides toward the national security
concept in a modern sense.
[Keywords] national security, borderland, people-oriented thought, ancient China
security defense system
[Author] ZHANG Yongpan, Research Fellow, Institute of Chinese Borderland
Studies, Chinese Academy of History, CASS (Beijing, 100101).

82 The Enlightenment of China’s Governance of Coastal and Territorial
Seas in the Qing Dynasty on Modern China’s Construction of

Peripheral Security Order
LI Xin

[Abstract] As the epitome and pinnacle of achievements made by China’s ancient
dynasties in constructing the governance system of coastal areas and territorial seas, the
Qing dynasty applied the Tian Xia (Land under Heaven) thought to its concrete practices,
made overall consideration and evaluation of multiple elements including the inland sea,
the outer sea, the high sea and maritime peripheral relations, and established a relatively
well-formed and comprehensive security governance system of coastal and territorial
seas. The specific manifestations of this governance system are as follows. Firstly,
governance of coastal and territorial seas was executed in three domains: the inland sea,
the outer sea and the high sea where the maritime jurisdiction over the inland sea and the
outer sea was carried out through administrative establishment and naval patrolling. In
the high sea governance, the principle of “hands-off governance” that was typically used
in the land frontier governance was adopted. Secondly, national efforts on system
construction ensured that local navies were able to accomplish patrolling, anti-piracy
operations, escorting and rescuing tasks and thus effectively safeguarded the maritime
security order in East Asia. Thirdly, long-term maritime peace and stability in East Asia
were realized by managing the political and security relations with China’s neighboring
maritime vassal states. In modern times, the late Qing government made great progress
in strengthening its governance on islands and territorial seas by upholding the principle
of sovereignty. However, it suffered failures in its efforts to protect its vassal states.
Exploration and discussion of historical experiences and lessons will not only shed
enlightenment on China’s modern efforts to promote the construction of peripheral
maritime security order but also enrich the implications of “historical perspectives on
China,” “the overall national security outlook,” and “the outlook on state identity.”
[Keywords] Qing Dynasty of China, governance of coastal and territorial seas,
China’s peripheries, maritime security order, “Tian Xia” security
[Author] LI Xin, Assistant Researcher, Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies,
Chinese Academy of History, CASS (Beijing, 100101).

104 Making Friends with Feuding States: The Political Economy of
Interstate Reconciliation
WANG Gaoyang
[Abstract] Reconciliation is a typical form of interstate interaction that had not received

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