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China's Relation with Southeast Asia: Political Security and Economic Interests


China has always looked at Southeast Asia as an integral part of its security environment. It values ASEAN for the role it may play in the realization of China’s desired vision of a multipolar order. Southeast Asian countries, on the other hand, appear prepared to accept China’s legitimate interests in the region but fear that China’s ambitions to become an Asia-Pacific military power could be at the expense of its smaller and weaker neighbors. Moreover, tensions over bilateral issues are expected to periodically emerge as part of the normal state of relations. Meanwhile, Sino-Southeast Asian economic relations are currently important, but not vital from each side’s perspective. Neither China nor ASEAN has a unified economic policy towards the other. Economic relations towards ASEAN, from China’s perspective, depend on bilateral economic complementarities as well as common political and strategic interests, rather than expectation of purely economic gain.

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Jul 03, 2013