In Southeast Asia, indirect balancing of growing Chinese power hinges on three elements. First is the strong expectation of deterrence, particularly in harnessing superior U.S. forces in the region to persuade Beijing that any aggressive action would be too costly or unlikely to succeed. Second is triangular politics—the use of bilateral relations with one major power as leverage to improve relations with another. Finally, as discussed in the previous section, the third, nonmilitary element of countervailing growing Chinese power is enmeshment— the aim of mediating the uncertainties of Chinese intentions
through integration and socialization of China into the regional system, cultivating it as a responsible status quo regional power.