Orientalism and international relations: a case study of Sino-Vietnamese relations

Using Edward Said's concept of positional superiority, this article examines the International Relations knowledge production of Sino-Vietnamese relations. It argues that while the relations do not involve the West as a subject, the knowledge reproduces Orientalism's positional superiority. Furthermore, the Orientalism of IR essentializes Sino-Vietnamese relations as well as China and Vietnam as individual countries by seeing their relations as antagonistic and static. The article concludes with a potential alternative interpretation of Sino-Vietnamese relations.