Dr. Qingfei Yin, an Assistant Professor of International History at LSE, delves into the intricate history of Sino-Vietnamese relations and the significance of borderlands. She discusses her upcoming book, which unveils how Cold War dynamics influenced state-building and regional interactions. The conversation highlights grassroots perspectives, the complexities of collaboration and competition, and the evolving nature of borders in East Asia. Dr. Yin also critiques traditional narratives, emphasizing the importance of peripheral nations in global historical contexts.
Dr. Qingfei Yin emphasizes the importance of examining Sino-Vietnamese relations through local interactions to understand the complexities of state collaboration and competition.
The discussion critiques the application of modern nation-state frameworks to historical Sino-Vietnamese relations, advocating for a broader historical perspective that encompasses cultural exchanges over centuries.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Research Interests
The speaker outlines their academic journey leading to a focus on Sino-Vietnamese relations. Initially interested in China's foreign relations broadly, they recognized the complexity of China's interactions with its neighboring countries, especially during the Cold War. They decided to specialize further by examining relations with Indochina, identifying it as both complicated and rewarding. Local and historical contexts became essential, leading them to explore interactions at the grassroots level rather than just at state or party levels.
Reassessing Historical Narratives
The discussion addresses how existing scholarship understands the long history of relations between China and Vietnam. While there is widespread consensus on the complexities of these relations, the speaker critiques the tendency to apply modern nation-state frameworks to historical interactions, which often oversimplifies the deep historical ties between the two societies. They present historical examples, such as significant cultural and social exchanges over centuries, which challenge the contemporary narrative of nationalist boundaries. The need to study these relations from a broader historical perspective, encompassing all layers of interactions, is emphasized.
Insights from Borderlands Perspectives
The focus shifts to how borderlands present a unique lens for understanding Sino-Vietnamese relations. The speaker argues that local interactions reveal layers of state collaboration and competition that are often overlooked in scholarship that prioritizes inter-party relations. By examining local archives, they highlight the mundane aspects of state-building, such as taxation and cross-border disputes, which play critical roles in shaping bi-national relations. This perspective facilitates a deep understanding of how revolutionary state projects interacted at local levels, demonstrating that borders can serve both as sites of contestation and collaboration.
Future Contributions to Historical Understanding
Looking towards future research, the speaker expresses an interest in moving beyond strictly Sino-Vietnamese relations to examine broader Southeast Asian contexts. They plan to investigate how capitalist Southeast Asian countries influenced China's reform era and regional policies during the late 20th century. Additionally, they will explore China's ocean shipping industry, emphasizing its historical ties to Southeast Asia. These projects intend to challenge prevailing narratives and surface the significant roles that these nations have played in shaping Chinese history and regional dynamics.
In this episode, host SEAC Director John Sidel talks with Dr Qingfei Yin, SEAC Associate and Assistant Professor of International History at LSE. Dr Qingfei Yin talks about her new book State Building in Cold War Asia Comrades and Competitors on the Sino-Vietnamese Border (due out with Cambridge University Press in August 2024), explains how she became interested in her research on China and Vietnam relations and the borderlands between the two countries, and discusses other projects she has begun working on beyond her forthcoming book.
Dr Qingfei Yin is Assistant Professor of International History (China and the World) at LSE. As a historian of contemporary China and inter-Asian relations, her research focuses on China’s relations with its Asian neighbours, Asian borderlands, and the Cold War in Asia. She is particularly interested in how the global Cold War interacted with state-building in marginal societies. Her book State Building in Cold War Asia: Comrades and Competitors on the Sino-Vietnamese Border will be published by Cambridge University Press in August 2024. Subsequent projects focus on how capitalist Southeast Asian countries shaped China during the latter’s early reform era in the 1980s and the historical memory of the Sino-Vietnamese Cold War partnership in the two countries. Dr Yin is an alumna of the LSE-Peking University Double MSc in International Affairs Programme. She studied International Politics and History at Peking University for her undergraduate degree and completed her PhD in History at George Washington University. Before returning to LSE, she was Assistant Professor of History at Virginia Military Institute. She also serves as the Book Review Editor of Journal of Military History and on the Editorial Board of Cold War History.