Abstract

This article aims to examine ASEAN-China relations in their proper perspective. While the issue of the South China Sea has become the major issue which dominates the relationship in recent years, ASEAN-China cooperation is in fact multi-faceted and wide-ranging, covering 11 socio-economic, as well as scientific and technological, areas. This cooperation also extends to political and security issues. This article also examines the implications of the rise of China, “peaceful” or otherwise, as the major world power, on regional political and economic development and how this “rise” will affect the future direction of ASEAN-China relations.