In designing a strategy to
deal with China, ASEAN has opted for a regional security tack on China based on
the recognition that China's recurrent show of power is only symbolic, and that
ASEAN's fear is only one predicated on whether China is prepared to behave like
a normative power. Met with these preconditions, ASEAN's long-term position is
to engage China in increasing her economic stakes in the region, in jointly
managing the territorial disputes between them, and finally involving the Chinese
in a multitude of security frameworks in the region.