多边主义理念竞争:中美湄公河次区域合作机制之比较

Competing Multilateralism: Ideational Differences between China-and the U.S.-led Institutions in the Mekong Subregion

2020年9月,美国主导湄公河下游倡议(LMI)升级为湄公河—美国伙伴关系(MUSP),进一步强化了与澜沧江—湄公河合作(LMC)竞争的意图。此前学界主要从权力和制度视角考察湄公河地区的机制竞争问题,忽略了不同多边机制背后的理念差异。中国和美国的多边主义理念存在显著差异,表现在秩序观和行动逻辑两个方面。中国的秩序构想以关系的整体性和本质和谐为核心,将世界视为立体多维的关系网络。在关系理性基础上,中国通过务实合作实践践行多边主义。美国的秩序观以个体理性为起点,强调秩序结构的确定性和同质化。美国所谓自由主义霸权秩序其实是一种基于规则的等级制,藉由霸权式制度供给构建多边框架,主导多边合作。中美多边主义理念的竞争是两国在湄公河次区域合作机制竞争的深层原因,并在议题领域、合作路径和预期收益三个方面,以不同的行动逻辑和行为实践体现出来。澜湄合作是真正平等互利的多边机制,而美湄合作实质上是霸权式多边主义的制度工具,难以契合区域国家的现实需求。

In September 2020,the Lower Mekong Initiative(LMI)was upgraded to the Mekong-U.S.Partnership(MUSP),which has further intensified the competition between the U.S.-led mechanism with the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation(LMC)initiated by China.Existing literature mostly examines the competition in the Mekong subregion from realist and institutionalist perspectives,and pays little attention to ideational differences between different multilateralisms.The author argues that significant ideational differences can be found between the multilateral mechanisms led respectively by China and the U.S.,particularly in the view of order and the logic of action.China’s conception of international order is based on the integrity and harmony of meta-relation,regarding the world as a multi-dimensional network of relations.Driven by relational rationality,China practices multilateralism through practical cooperation.The U.S.’s outlook of international order takes individual rationality as the starting point and emphasizes the certainty and homogeneity of order structure.The socalled liberal hegemonic order is actually a rules-based hierarchical system.By means of supplying hegemonic institutions,the U.S.builds multilateral framework and leads multilateral cooperation.The ideational competition between China and the U.S.in multilateralism is the root cause for their institutional competition in Mekong subregion,which is revealed in different logics of action and practices in cooperation agenda,institutional path and anticipated benefits.The LMC is multilateralism featuring equality and reciprocity,while the Mekong-U.S.Partnership is more an institutional instrument of the U.S.hegemony than cooperation based on an equal footing.