With US leadership unable to guarantee peace and security in the Indo-Pacific this century, the region will need to transition to a balance of power system divided between China, the United States, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). To mitigate dangerously destabilising tensions between these great powers, this report also recommends establishing new Asian security dialogues and communication hotlines between the Chinese National Security Council and its Indian and American counterparts.

Dr Benjamin Herscovitch is a Beijing-based Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.