China’s rise and the institutionalization of security in the Asia Pacific

Soon after the Cold War, many realists predicted that Asia would be “ripe for rivalry” as a result of the end of bipolarity between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. A rising China would inevitably conflict with the U.S., the sole superpower in the world. China’s domination in Asia would also force Japan to normalize its security and military policies and a second Sino-Japanese war would be unavoidable. Moreover, Southeast Asian states would become the first victim of China’s rise because a stronger China would not hesitate to use force to solve its territorial disputes with the five Southeast Asian states over the South China Sea.1