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Southeast Asian states as a group employ two general strategies to protect themselves against domination by a strong China: engagement and hedging. The hedging includes maintaining a modest level of defence cooperation with the United States, which may be called low-intensity balancing against China. This is most clear in the cases of the Philippines and Singapore, and more subtle in the cases of Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. Thailand appears to practice simple hedging, while Myanmar has no alternative to cooperation with China. The region bandwagons with China only to the extent that it desires trade with China and seeks to avoid the costs of alienating the region's rising great power. These findings suggest the region is far from passive, the United States is still a relevant player, and acceptance of China is premised on Beijing's adherence to the promises made in its recent diplomatic campaign.
Introduction
There is little doubt that China is rising to a level of unmatched prominence in the Asia-Pacific region. How other states in the region are reacting to the growth of Chinese power, however, is a matter of some debate.1 In theory, two of the common responses of smaller states in the shadow of a potentially dominant or threatening power are balancing and bandwagoning. Some observers see a pattern of bandwagoning with China (Kang 2003, p. 58). Others believe the stronger tendency is for Asian states to balance against China (Acharya 2003, pp. 150-52). For students of Southeast Asian politics, this is an important question with huge consequences for the future of international relations in the region. This article will explore this question, arguing that, while hedging and engagement are the principal Southeast Asian strategies toward China, the hedging involves a significant component of what may be termed "low-intensity balancing" with the United States against China along with efforts to maintain a working relationship with Beijing.
Terms of Analysis
The range of policy choices for small and medium-sized states facing a potential regional hegemon is broader than balancing and bandwagoning (Schweller 1999, pp. 7-16). Southeast Asian states in fact employ a mix of elements from four strategies. One of these strategies, the most general, is hedging, which means keeping open more than one strategic option against the possibility of...