Prior to this, there was already a movement of factories from China to Southeast Asia due to the increase in wages as mentioned in this book. However, in Vietnam, laborers hired by Taiwanese com- panies have frequently held strikes over the past several years to demand improvements in labor con- ditions. Taiwanese companies that are looking to invest back into Taiwan are seeking more favorable treatment from the government. Additionally, in Taiwan, some of the labor unions and civic organi- zations are requesting increases in overtime pay and guarantees for days off, while companies are requesting that the government ease regulations on labor law in order to secure labor, thereby causing a conflict. In other words, some Taiwanese companies are still using the management model from the 1980s and ’90s, which focused on reducing management costs by exploiting workers with low wages, long hours, and labor-intensive work, and by receiving favorable treatment from the government or acquiring rent. There is no doubt this book is important in explaining theoretically China’s economic growth and the role played by Taiwan’s businessmen, both at a macro and micro level. The issues raised and the analysis conducted by the author will offer an important clue to analyzing China’s economy moving forward. I hope this book will be an impetus and that the theorization of China research, as well as empirical research, will further advance as a result. doi:10.1017/S1479591420000169 China’s Soft Footprints in Southeast Asia Edited by Maria Serena I. Diokno, Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, and Alan H. Yang. Singapore: NUS Press, 2019. Pp. 249. ISBN 978-981-4722-89-6. Kornphanat Tungkeunkunt Thammasat University, Email: kornphanat@gmail.com At the time of this review, written during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis of 2020, one may suggest a historical turning point in the role of China as a global power. While the Trump administration’s America First policy has caused the United States to distance itself from the world, China under Xi Jinping is providing assistance to other countries. Could this be a signal that we should consider a future where China will replace America as the new world power? To assess China’s calculated move today, China’s Soft Footprints in Southeast Asia revisits the country’s foreign relations and achievements over the past decades. It is a great read and an in-depth examination of the Chinese gov- ernment’s engagement and international influence in Southeast Asia. Rather than focusing on traditional security or strategy issues, China’s Soft Footprints in Southeast Asia offers a broader perspective on the interactions between China and the nations of Southeast Asia. To track China’s “footprints”, the book tackles several theories and case studies that explore how the Chinese government produced, implemented, and negotiated its diplomacy with host countries in Southeast Asia. The book is divided into eight chapters. In Chapter 1, “China’s Soft Footprints in Southeast Asia: Accommodation and Contestation,” the three editors provide a brief history of Sino-Southeast Asian relations and discuss significant theories about China’s international relations, as well as the concept of “soft footprint” used in the edited volume: in brief, this concept is a development of the notion of “soft power” 1 in reference to China’s influence in Southeast Asia. It is defined as “the tangible presence, 1 “Soft power,” a concept coined by Joseph Nye, refers to the non-coercive and non-material ability to appeal to other coun- tries, for instance through culture, political values, and foreign policy. International Journal of Asian Studies 195 https://doi.org/10.1017/S1479591420000261 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core . Tha Prachan, Thammasat University, on 22 Jul 2020 at 09:05:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms .