Introduction

For nearly two decades after the close of the Korean War in 1953, the United States perceived the People's Republic of China (PRC) as a serious threat to Southeast Asia, and American policy toward Southeast Asia was shaped by this perception. Smo-Soviet rivalry overshadows Sino-American rivalry in Southeast Asia. Whereas the United States once warned Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries against the threat from the PRC, the PRC warns them against the threat from the Soviet Union. China's propinquity is a significant fact which Southeast Asian countries must reckon with. While there may be a tradition of accommodating to China among the Southeast Asian nations, there is none of subservience to Chinese domination. For China, propinquity gives Southeast Asia special strategic significance. PRC military involvement in Burma is less readily explained in terms of border security than are its road-building activities in Laos.