A Distant Part of Asia

Abstract

For many of its Asian neighbors, China aspires to renew its historical role as regional hegemon. Beijing’s consistent attempts of economic coercion to shape the foreign and defense policy decision-making of its neighbors have pushed Asia’s middle powers to develop new security partnerships. As the respective wealthiest and the largest democracies, and the second and third largest economies in Asia, Japan and India stand out as a potential counterbalance to China’s assertiveness. South Korea and Australia are also reacting to pressures from China and looking to diversify their trade and investment and deepen regional cooperation in the face of Chinese pressure. China’s militarization of strategic waterways in the South China Sea over the past decade also kicked off a new period of hedging and balancing in Southeast Asia for the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and others. Beijing’s political rhetoric has heightened fears that war across the Taiwan Strait, and over the East China and South China Seas, is on the near horizon. But the rest of Asia is not standing still.