ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the response to a rising China from the perspective of various states in Southeast Asia. It examines China’s economic cooperation, and its transnational political and economic significance and impact in the region; and focuses on Southeast Asia and Japan. The chapter looks at the transnational effects of China’s economic and trade cooperation for a simple reason. China’s rise is primarily economic: the most important instrument China can and does deploy to make its leaders’ foreign visits successful is its economic and trade cooperation. Viewing China’s rise and its implications for the regional order from the perspective of Southeast Asia and Japan offers a different picture from that painted by China specialists, who interpret China’s rise as a sign of a Sinocentric order in the making. China’s new policy initiatives, combined with its economic rise, have enhanced its presence in the region.
