The wide-ranging and ever-expanding China-ASEAN cooperation has overshadowed the US' discord-sowing intent in the region, as indicated by ASEAN countries' lukewarm response to Washington's active interventions in their territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
For China, whether or not it can defuse the strategic dilemma caused by its emergence will decide its ties with ASEAN countries. Due to their historical dependency on China, ASEAN countries remain particularly sensitive to present-day China's attitude in its dealings with them. China should extricate itself from any sense of superiority in developing ties with ASEAN countries in order to create a peaceful and stable environment for its development.
To this end, the country should unwaveringly adhere to the principle of mutual benefit and strive to forge the hard-won FTA into a firm bond and promote mutual cooperation and development. The two sides should also try to fend off outside interventions and ease mutual misgivings towards each other in the South China Sea dispute in an effort to turn the sea into an area of peace and cooperation.
The "harmonious world" concept advocated by China indicates the country is committed to safeguard, rather than revise, the current regional order. China's commitment not to devalue its currency during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, a move that helped crisis-stricken Southeast Asian nations recover, best proved that the country can undertake its responsibilities as a responsible power in any global and regional crisis.
The author is an associate professor at the School of International Studies of Nanjing University.
(Source: China Daily)
