An Analysis On The ASEAN’s Strategy Of Balancing Great Powers

ASEAN’s strategy of balancing great powers is based on the “balance theory”. It is the supplement and development of the traditional balance of power theory. This paper will make an analysis of ASEAN’s strategy of balancing great powers from the perspective of the emergence, development and adjustment. With the relative changes of strength and three countries’ investments in the Asia Pacific region, ASEAN changes its political, security and economic strategy in different degrees. This strategic adjustment will bring China both opportunities and challenges. The author will propose corresponding countermeasures for China to deal with the "balance of power" strategy.This thesis will analyze ASEAN’s strategy of balancing great powers from four aspects. The first chapter mainly focus on the derivation and development of ASEAN’s strategy of balancing great powers.At first the chapter will compare the similarities and differences between ASEAN’s strategy of balancing great powers and the “balance theory”. And then the chapter will talk about the reasons of ASEAN’s “balance of power” strategy. At last this chapter will talk about the developments of ASEAN’s strategy from the perspective of the developmental procedure on institutions, including the APEC, ASEAN Regional Forum and ASEAN plus China, "10 + 3" meeting and "10+l" meeting, ASEM and the East Asia Summit and the "ASEAN Community" and some other institutions.The second chapter will analyze the reasons of the adaption about ASEAN’s balance strategy.In order to have an impact in Southeast Asia, different countries are playing their roles in the chess game. The United States increased attention and input to the Southeast Asian region, and started the "rebalancing" strategy. Meanwhile Japan is working to be a big country on the international stage. So Japan is constantly increasing investment, hoping to expand the security relations. For its own construction and development consideration, China pays more attention to the construction of network and to the surrounding areas as the starting point. These factors are the reasons for the strategic adjustment of ASEAN balance strategy.In the third chapter, on the basis of analyzing the motivation of the strategic adjustment of ASEAN’s balance strategy. This paper will mainly analyze from three aspects, including ASEAN’s foreign policies, security policies and economic policies. The author compares the adjustment of ASEAN policies from before and after, and then gets a further and more explicit direction of policy adjustment through equivalent data method.The fourth chapter will research the adjustment of ASEAN balance strategy’s impact on China focusing on the internal and external conflicts.The author tries to provide some constructive suggestions for China to deal with ASEAN’s adjustment in three aspects. At last, China and ASEAN’s relationgship should be divided into two levels, the first level is the micro perspective, the second is the macroscopic perspective.In a word, the implementation of the ASEAN balance strategy has its strategic considerations and historical necessity. ASEAN has both area advantages and era advantages. To create a favorable environment for China’s development, and build a secure strategic network for China’s security, China should be active and prudent to respond, and actively seek long term strategy, facing the adjustment and taking the current interests into account.