ABSTRACT
This chapter examines China's and Japan's policies towards Southeast Asia in the context of maritime security, which constitutes one of the most crucial security concerns in East Asia today. It analyzes the implications of these rival policies on the formation of regional institutions for maritime security. The chapter argues that both China and Japan have utilized economic means and formal institutions either as tools of coercion or attraction or both to prop up their positions in maritime security issues in Southeast Asia. Japan made efforts to raise maritime security as theme of discussion during the sixth East Asia Summit (EAS). The Chairman's statement contained an independent section on 'Maritime Security and Cooperation' in which the term, South China Sea, was used for the first time in Chairman's statement. During the fourth China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, Premier Zhu Rongji reiterated China's support and increase of Chinese assistance to Southeast Asia.
