ABSTRACT
The development of stable and mutually beneficial relations among nations whose combined population is well in excess of a billion persons and which control vast natural resources is of importance to the United States and to world peace. Normalization of relations between the United States and the Indo-Chinese countries would help to stabilize relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Southeast Asia, and international relations within the region, and should be an objective of US policy. Successful implementation of a policy of the kind toward Indo-Chinese states would depend on their willingness to adopt a similar stance toward the United States. Attempts by the PRC to dominate Southeast Asia would be resisted by the countries of the region and would inevitably intensify big-power friction, to the detriment of China's security. The mutual interest that the PRC and Southeast Asian countries have in maintaining Southeast Asian independence reinforces the prospects for the continued normalization of Sino Southeast Asian relations.
