Pradeep Taneja Jayantika Rao T. V. Anshita Shukla Biren Nanda

The engagement between the regional grouping of Southeast Asian countries, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and China will play a critical role in determining the future of security architecture in the Indo-Pacific. [...] The earliest example of this came in the wake of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, when China decided not to devalue its international currency, the Renminbi (RMB), and delivered aid to Indonesia and Thailand, two of the worst crisis-stricken countries in the region22. [...] In the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, China provided US$80 million in assistance to the affected Southeast Asian countries, organised a China-ASEAN tsunami seminar in 2006, and conducted workshops in 2007 and 2008 under the ‘ASEAN plus Three’ dialogue on the role of the armed forces in disaster relief23. [...] As Washington remains preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, a key question for ASEAN is the intent and ability of the USA to project power and balance China’s actions in the region. [...] The participants, did, however, stress the importance of maintaining and promoting the freedom of navigation and over-flight and pursuing a peaceful resolution of disputes, without coercion, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.