ASEAN’s Response to the Rise of China: Deploying a Hedging Strategy

The rise of China has brought forth new sets of opportunities and challenges for Southeast Asia. A new politico-strategic landscape has emerged in which, ASEAN not only seeks China’s economic support perceived to be crucial for the development of the region, but also worries about China’s growing power and the possibility of Chinese domination over the region. ASEAN as a regional interlocutor has responded to the new phenomenon by deploying a hedging strategy that seeks to benefit from the opportunities and manage the challenges emanating from the rise of China. While ASEAN’s policy of ‘honest brokerage’ has allowed the presence of other powers to balance China, its policy of enmesh China has facilitated China’s role as a stakeholder in the ASEAN cooperative processes.