ABSTRACT
From the establishment of APEC in 1989 to the search for multilateralism in crisis conditions in 2009 China has faced the challenge of balancing new impulses for regional institution building and deep aspirations for autonomy in adding to national power. While it has grown more accepting of some forms of regionalism, responses varied depending on which states are perceived as leading the process, what the purpose of regionalism is, and how values are deemed to influence the way regionalism will operate. China's views of regionalism, broadly or narrowly encompassing Northeast Asia, open a window on how its strategic thinking has evolved after the relatively stable Cold War order ended.
