China’s rise as a military, economic, technological, and political powerhouse has resulted in a dramatic shift in the power balance. Hence, the U.S. policy demonstrates clear security signals to potential militarized threats from China. As the United States–China relations approach a more contested and conflict-prone situation, it has become critical for the states to consider risk-averse foreign policy. The distinct strategic approaches, alongside balancing and bandwagoning, deserve comprehensive studies from scholars and students in the field of international relations.
Since the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has mentioned more than once that the United States will not force countries to choose between Washington and Beijing, which policy options should be adopted by China’s neighboring countries? The panel collects relevant studies, which illustrate a more general picture of policy orientations. By discussing the national strategic autonomy, papers attempt to exemplify that Taiwan, India, and five Central Asian countries have both enjoyed flexibility in their foreign relations due to their capacity to manage a more intensive Sino-U.S. competition. The panel also includes quantitative analyses to discuss how people in the allied countries, such as South Korea, Taiwan, and the ASEAN members, switched their original supportive attitudes between the U.S. and China. The panel attempts to provide timely and innovative contributions to the studies of Asian states’ behavior, both theoretically and empirically, whether states in the region are anomalous from the traditional realist assumptions in facing China’s reemergence as a significant regional/global power.