ASEAN is a key area for BRI cooperation.China-ASEAN relations have become the most successful and dynamic model in Asia-Pacific regional cooperation,whichis a good example of promoting a community with a shared future for mankind.In terms of education,China-ASEAN cooperation has been one of the most successful ar-eas in China's international cooperation since the proposal of BRI.As an important part of China's education modern-ization in the digital era,education digitization has become a path tothe high-quality education.Digital cooperation in education will inevitably become an important form of promoting China-ASEAN educational cooperation and ex-change.In line with the value pursuit of building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future,it is of-broad prospect for cooperation in political,economic,and cultural dimensions to promote digital cooperation in edu-cation.Facing the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area version 3.0 and the golden decade of the BRI,it is suggested to lead China-ASEAN digital education cooperation by highlighting its advantagesto focus on the construction of inter-national communication capacity and enriching education content,the development of a series of standards related to education digitalization,and the construction of a digital case library for education in China;it is suggested that more ef-forts can be made to promote the digitalization of curriculum construction and teaching plan implementation,and of the learning plan and itsimplementation,and strengthen the support of elements such as capital,technology,talents and data for the digital transformation of education to promote the digitalization cooperation in education between China and ASEAN;it is suggested to optimize the mechanism of China-ASEANdigital education cooperation,improve its guarantee system,prevent and resolve the risks,and continuously promote the breadth and depth of cooperation.
In the early 1990s,India introduced the Look East Policy with the aim of capitalizing on the rapid eco-nomic development in Southeast Asia and seeking new opportunities for its own economic growth to break free from its economic struggles.Simultaneously,India aimed to overcome its diplomatic isolation.In 2014,the Modi govern-ment further expanded this policy into the Act East Policy.With a focus on maritime security and connectivity,the goal was to enhance India's maritime influence in Southeast Asia and realize the vibrant vision of the Indian Dream.This policy served as an extension of India's maritime strategy beyond its borders and marked the transition from a lower-level political approach to a higher-level political engagement.The elevated political engagement focused on political diplomacy and security issues.Under the transformed"Act East Policy,"India aimed to expand its strate-gic scope to achieve great power status,formulate maritime security strategies,and enhance maritime security co-operation.India actively sought to increase its discourse power and influence in Southeast Asia,aiming to counter China's rising presence in the Indo-Pacific region and even around the globe.ASEAN has long pursued a strategy of"balancing great powers,"which is closely linked to the historical context of Southeast Asian countries navigating between competing major powers.With the intervention of non-regional forces,ASEAN has also upgraded its en-gagement level with India in its partnership hierarchywhile still adhering to the balance strategy.It is urgent to attach great importance and respond to the measures of strengthening economic and trade relations with ASEAN to act as a stabilizer of the economy,actively promoting dialogue and proper resolution of the South China Sea issue,enhanc-ing China-India consensus and strategic mutual trust,and improving China-U.S.relations,etc.
Since the 21st century,European and Southeast Asian countries have actively used institutional over-lap to solve specific practical problems.The institutional overlap of EU countries in the field of security cooperation has produced positive spillover effects,which is conducive to the European integration process.However,the insti-tutional overlap of the countries in the Mekong basin of Southeast Asia in the field of water resources has brought about adverse effects to the regional cooperation environment.The logical path of this difference is that the more in-tense the regional competition between great powers is,the more Mekong basin countries uphold the"Country first"concept with more emphasis on consensus and informality of regional norms,and the more negative spillover ef-fects are likely to emerge from the institutional overlap of regional countries with regard to specific issues,namely,to strain the regional situation,and vice versa.On the one hand,Thailand's regional cooperation institution for solving problems related to water resources has been extended to the"Lancang-Mekong Cooperation"(LMC),but the United States,who is obsessed with the Cold War mentality,still launched the"Mekong-U.S.Partnership"to compete with China,affecting the regional cooperation environment.On the other hand,with the regional concept of"Country first"and the convenience provided by the"ASEAN Way",Thailand and Vietnam designed and took the lead inthe Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy(ACMECS)and the Cambodia,Laos,Myanmar,and Vietnam's cooperative mechanism(CLMV)according to their own interests to solve the problems related to wa-ter resources and compete for regional leadership,making the cooperation environment in Mekong basin coun-triesonce again deteriorate due to their institutional overlap,which has finally produced negative spillover effects at both structural and regional levels.Thailand and Vietnam's institutional participation in the Mekong basin clearly demonstrates the institutional overlap dilemma of countries in this region,which provides enlightenment for the fu-ture institutional development in Southeast Asia.In the process of dealing with specific issues,Southeast Asian coun-tries must strengthen ASEAN's internal and external"centrality".
On September 21,2023,the 15th China-ASEAN Think Tank Strategic Dialogue Forum was held in Nanning,Guangxi,China.The experts and scholars at home and abroad carried out in-depth exchanges and dis-cussionson the theme of"Collective Wisdom for a Shared Future,Jointly Embarking on the New Journey of BRI"and followed the topics such as"achievements and prospects of the 10thanniversary of China-ASEAN BRI cooperation","promoting the innovative development of China-ASEAN cross-border industrial and supply chain","joint high-quality construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor","China-ASEAN cooperation on digital trans-formation and scientific and technological innovation","boosting China-ASEAN green transformation and low-carbon sustainable development","advancing high-level institutional opening up and creating a convenient area for dual-circulation of domestic and international markets operation"and"China-ASEAN cultural exchanges,mutual learning and innovative development".They probed into enhancing infrastructure connectivity,digital economy,green economy,security and stability of industrial and supply chains,institutional openness,trade and investment facilitation,cultural exchanges and mutual learning,and sought to inject new perspectives,new ideas and new solu-tions to promote high-quality BRI cooperation and steady progress towards a closer community of shared future be-tween China and ASEAN.This article summarizes the major viewpoints of the participants.
