Since the end of the Cold War,the regional system of Southeast Asia has taken great changes with the result of the relations between China and the ASEAN being improved.With the rapid development of both sides in economy and trade,political cooperation came into a newphase with ASEAN-based regional organizations and multilateral dialogues.Nonetheless,on some key issues,both have not been able to reach consensus.This denotes the co-existence of positive and negative pattern of behavior in political interactions.Changes in the regional systems and the impact of their internal factors(especially their perceptions of security threats)affect the development of both sides.Therefore,neo-realism provides special interpretation for political cooperation.
