China's Bilateral Defense Diplomacy in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Consonant with global trends, China's defense diplomacy has broadened in the pursuit of new foreign policy and security goals. While realpolitik still informs China's military relations with Southeast Asian countries, Beijing has also utilized defense diplomacy to build cooperative relations, underscore its “peaceful development” thesis, increase transparency, and assuage regional anxieties concerning its rising power. Over the past decade, China has stepped up arms sales to the region, military exchanges and naval ship visits, initiated annual defense and security dialogues, and combined training and exercises. However, China's defense diplomacy in Southeast Asia still faces barriers, including tensions generated by sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea, the poor reputation of Chinese weapon systems, and second-order impacts on Southeast Asian countries' existing defense relationships.