Research On The Practice Of Voting In The UN General Assembly Between China And ASEAN (1991-2019)

As the most authoritative international organization,voting in the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA)is an official source and channel for examining the similarity of member states' positions in international affairs.The analysis of the UNGA voting is based on the authenticity and reliability of the data,while avoiding the subjective and uncontrollable factors of empiricism.Thus,this article systematically examines the voting data of China and ASEAN in the UNGA from 1991 to 2019,and explores the factors that affect the unanimous or different voting positions of China and ASEAN in the UNGA and also analyzes the extent to which the two can promote cooperation on international issues,so as to provides enlightenment for China to improve China-ASEAN cooperation,enhance China-ASEAN relations,and promote the improvement of global governance by increasing the representation of developing countries in the UNGA.On the theoretical level,national interests determine whether a country will comply with international norms,and compliance with norms will affect the preference of national interests.The generalization of national interests and international norms can only be regarded as a simple supplementary explanation.Therefore,when national interests and international norms are used as independent variables to explain UNGA voting behavior,they must be placed in a specific time period and international issues.The difference in voting positions is based on the visualization of the impact of interests and norms on the income structure.There are two explanations for this.One is because there are fundamental differences in the understanding of the interests of a certain resolution or the international issues it reflects.The other is that when national interests conflict with international norms,the country will insist on choosing a voting position that is conducive to safeguarding national interests in the UNGA resolutions instead of consider reputation.In short,the difference in voting positions stems from the fact that the country puts interests in a higher priority position,and the voting position also represents the “optimal solution” for a country to safeguard its national interests under the circumstances at that time.On the empirical level,by examining the 1,104 resolutions of China and ASEAN in the three main subject areas of the UNGA,it is found that the two enjoy the highest voting consistency in the areas of special politics and decolonization;followed by disarmament and international security issues;social,humanitarian and cultural issues show the lowest consistency.Observing the consistency of China-ASEAN UNGA voting under China-ASEAN relations in the same period,it can be found that the voting results have not been affected by the impact of the “China threat theory” and did not cause a negative impact on China-ASEAN international cooperation,which reflecting the inclusive and mutually beneficial development pattern of the two sides.However,the China-ASEAN voting consistency is indeed affected by the third-party factor of the United States.In view of this,China should take measures such as optimizing ChinaASEAN institutional cooperation,providing ASEAN with high-quality international public products on demand,and paying more attention to moral principles in dealing with ASEAN,so as to weaken the US factor,strengthen the coordination and cooperation of ASEAN and China's political position in international affairs,improve the consistency of China-ASEAN UNGA voting,thereby enhancing the common interests of developing countries.This is of great importance for resolving the strategic pressure facing China's peaceful development and promoting the improvement of global governance.