The Strategic Analysis Of ASEAN Maintaining The Central Position Of East Asia Regional Cooperation Under Sino-US Strategic Competition (2009-2020)

After the Cold War,ASEAN established various multilateral cooperation mechanisms and systems,and gradually developed into an East Asian regional cooperation center.With the improvement of China’s strength and international status,China has adopted a more aggressive foreign policy.The United States regards China as its main competitor.The "Asia-Pacific Rebalancing" strategy and the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" have shifted the US’s international strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region,and East Asia has become the core region of Sino-US strategic competition.The strategic competition between China and the United States in East Asia is gradually escalating,and its pressure is transmitted to Southeast Asia.The strategic space of ASEAN has been compressed,which has increased the pressure for ASEAN to choose sides between China and the United States;institutional competition and institutional surplus in East Asia are increasingly seriously,the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" made the United States pay less attention to ASEAN and impacted ASEAN’s central position in East Asian regional cooperation.In the strategic competition between China and the United States,ASEAN adopts a neutral policy to maintain a balance between the two major powers in China and the United States;adopts an avoidance policy to avoid intensifying hot issues in East Asia and threaten ASEAN’s regional security;continue to promote the East Asia region dominated by ASEAN cooperation mechanism system;and to promote the construction of the ASEAN community,focusing on maintaining one voice as much as possible to maintain the internal unity of ASEAN.On the whole,ASEAN can effectively handle the specific problems and risks brought about by the strategic competition between China and the United States in East Asia,while maintaining ASEAN’s central position in East Asian regional cooperation.In the process of handling these crises,it also exposed ASEAN’s shortcomings in maintaining its status as a regional cooperation center and exerting its influence.For example,it is difficult to support and maintain the East Asian regional cooperation system by its own strength,unable to do anything about structural conflicts,conflicts of interest among ASEAN members,and the intensification of competition among major powers compresses the space for ASEAN policy choices.