The end of the Cold War brought about a new urgency for Thailand to reformulate its foreign policy to react more appropriately to the region's new distribution of power. Thai leaders were challenged by the reality in which the United States, a long-term guardian of Thai national security, was reducing its presence in Southeast Asia and, therefore, its influence on the region. American policy created a power vacuum, but it also paved the way for China, a rising Asian Power, to assert its role as it readjusted the regional equilibrium to its own benefit. Thailand felt that it could no longer depend on the United States alone in times of trouble. The Asian financial crisis that hit Thailand in 1997 reaffirmed this belief. Thailand was disappointed that the United States did not rush to its aid, particularly since the financial crisis was regarded as a new form of threat to the country's economic security. Instead, the Chinese and the Japanese contributed substantial amounts to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout fund for Thailand.