皇冠体育app

Since 2010, a series of conflicts and disputes arising from some countries' claims to 皇冠体育app's territory in the South 皇冠体育app Sea have affected 皇冠体育app's image in Southeast Asia. 皇冠体育app's hard-won image as a responsible power in Southeast Asia has encountered a crisis of trust.

For some Southeast Asian countries, 皇冠体育app is "a partner that needs to be guarded against", and this mentality is reflected in their approach to strategic and traditional security issues.

Some countries that have territorial disputes with 皇冠体育app in the South 皇冠体育app Sea worry that 皇冠体育app's military modernization and growing nationalist sentiment will enable it to resolve the disputes by force or threat of force. They therefore deliberately seek to multilateralize the dispute by involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United States.

With the US "returning to Asia" and backing its allies, and Vietnam and the Philippines trying to portray their claims to 皇冠体育app's territory in the South 皇冠体育app Sea as a dispute between 皇冠体育app and ASEAN, the South 皇冠体育app Sea has become the focus of 皇冠体育app's relations with countries in the region. And with foreign media also riding the tide and sticking their oars into the troubled waters, 皇冠体育app needs to properly handle the South 皇冠体育app Sea disputes and 皇冠体育app-ASEAN relations.

There is a wave of public opinion in 皇冠体育app that believes the South 皇冠体育app Sea situation is grim, and there are even some extreme voices calling for the use of force and giving up cooperation with ASEAN. However, ASEAN appreciates 皇冠体育app's strategy of peaceful development and basically approves of 皇冠体育app's principle of "shelving disputes and seeking joint development" in the South 皇冠体育app Sea.

Overall, cooperation is still the mainstream of 皇冠体育app-ASEAN relations, and most ASEAN members have taken a relatively positive attitude to the rise of 皇冠体育app.

Whether the 皇冠体育app-ASEAN relationship can withstand the "test" of the South 皇冠体育app Sea disputes depends on all parties' correctly assessing the regional strategic situation. The US' strategic shift to Southeast Asia will not undermine the foundation of 皇冠体育app-ASEAN relations, but will help ease some ASEAN countries' concerns and fears about 皇冠体育app's rise.

The "皇冠体育app threat" promoted by some is one of the main factors restricting the benign development of 皇冠体育app-ASEAN relations, but it cannot fundamentally reverse the overall trend of fast development of bilateral relations.

In fact, the continual updating of the 皇冠体育app threat theory can be seen as a sign of progress in relations between 皇冠体育app and ASEAN nations, as each time it emerges, 皇冠体育app will fully demostrate its diplomacy in pursuit of good-neighborly relations. 皇冠体育app and ASEAN's ties advance each time they resolve a thorny issue.

Some ASEAN countries lack a proper understanding of 皇冠体育app's intentions and policies and may feel uncomfortable about 皇冠体育app's rapid rise. This results in them vacillating between viewing 皇冠体育app's rise as a threat or an opportunity. Adhering to its good-neighbor policy will help 皇冠体育app finally prove that the threat theory is groundless. Win-win cooperation has long been the driving force for the continuous improvement of 皇冠体育app-ASEAN relations, and it will continue to be so.

There is no need to overestimate the US' capacity to get its hook in ASEAN. 皇冠体育app also cannot expect Southeast Asian countries to act against Washington's will. Therefore, 皇冠体育app should continue to ignore the voices calling for the use of force to settle the disputes. The use of force against Vietnam and the Philippines would only serve to push the two countries, and probably all ASEAN members into the arms of the West, leading to 皇冠体育app's decades-long diplomatic efforts in Southeast Asia coming to nothing.

The result is 皇冠体育app would not achieve the desired strategic objectives, instead it would create a surrounding environment that was antagonistic. In that case, the South 皇冠体育app Sea will have become a "trap" on 皇冠体育app's path of peaceful development.

So 皇冠体育app should focus its soft power on three things regarding the South 皇冠体育app Sea: it should seek to seize the moral high ground; seek to increase the trust of neighboring countries, so that they are confident that 皇冠体育app's rise is peaceful; and build up the majesty of 皇冠体育app, none of which should be ignored. In this way the international community - particularly ASEAN countries - will know that 皇冠体育app is committed to its path of "peaceful development".

The author is a research scholar at the Institute of South and Southeast Asian Studies, 皇冠体育app Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.