Illustration: Liu Rui /GT

China's rise has encountered growing resistance as the US has been advancing its rebalance to the Asia-Pacific since 2010. As a result, the western Pacific has seen escalating security tensions.

The US keeps squeezing the strategic room of its rivals in the region with the help of its allies, which has stirred greater antagonism. Hot button issues like the South China Sea dispute and the North Korea nuclear crisis keep making headlines and lack effective control. Stakeholders have withdrawn from seeking more common ground to address these problems due to mutual distrust.

Not strong enough to defend their national security alone, Southeast Asian countries are inclined to resort to a balancing strategy between major powers. However, the strategy has its own limitations, and might backfire if mishandled. A major repercussion could be the escalation of rivalry between major powers in the region, and spiraling tensions as a result.

Hotspot issues are not the root cause of the instability of the western Pacific. What matters most is how major stakeholders consider these security problems and on what platforms can these problems be resolved. As the US ramps up its intervention in security affairs in the western Pacific, the old ways Washington values, such as the alliance system, strategic deterrence, strategic isolation and even military confrontation are expected to play a significant role. In a stark contrast, negotiation, consensus and mutual understanding, those constructive ways adopted by China since the 1990s while dealing with Southeast Asian countries, are being marginalized. This is a backward shift for the regional security situation.

Security in the western Pacific is mired in a vicious circle. Facing hotspot issues, most countries usually go their own way and carry out measures in their own interests. Overlooking other countries' interests, their proposals and actions will usually be countered, which, as a result, will sharpen contradictions and escalate opposition. Everyone loses as a result. If the countries in the western Pacific stick to the outdated way, the intense security situation in the region cannot be fundamentally mitigated, and it might even get worse.

Therefore, the stakeholders in the western Pacific should reflect on their policymaking process and strategic interactions in terms of security issues. China, ASEAN and the US should re-orientate their security relationships and explore a more inclusive security architecture in a bid to avoid more hostility and improve the security situation.

A prominent feature of the current security architecture in the western Pacific is the dominance of the US-led alliance in security issues. In security, China is in a weaker position than the US, and its reasonable concerns about regional security have not been properly responded to. Without a systematic and holistic approach to dealing with security issues, many countries in the region have chosen to build their capabilities and demonstrate their resolves to defend national security. These assertive approaches might create more standoffs while dealing with security problems.

Lacking a constructive regional security architecture, China is eager to put more effort in building security rules in the region, which is not desired by the US because it is reluctant to allow China to play a bigger role in this case. But joint cooperation among China, the US and other regional countries to build an inclusive security architecture and improve regional security situation is in line with everyone's interests.

As for China, besides firmly safeguarding its own national interests, it should see the big picture and take active measures to cooperate with ASEAN to cool down the tensions. It should also separate security problems from economic cooperation, fending off the risks imposed by security disputes on economic cooperation. China should take the initiative and offer its wisdom in designing a reasonable security architecture with ASEAN and the US. China and the US need to form a basic understanding on the region.

The author is a professor at the Guangdong Institute for International Strategies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn Follow us on Twitter @GTopinion