Stay alert to major powers' meddling in Asia

Editor's note: The article is an excerpt of the Evaluation Report on the Security Situation in Surrounding Areas of China (2016), issued by the National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In all likelihood, the geopolitical competition in China's neighborhood will intensify in the near future, constraining the country's ambition to press ahead with its Belt and Road Initiative, as many major regional players have carried out fresh strategies in response to the changing international situation and economic realities.

That includes the United States' rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific, the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, India's Act East Policy, and Indonesia's Global Maritime Axis; which could either be boons to China's grand transnational project the Belt and Road Initiative, or a latent strategic threat.