Discussed the security order and centrality of ASEAN in the context of great power competition in Southeast Asia. In the early days of the establishment of ASEAN, there were complex contradictions and disputes in Southeast Asia. However, after more than 60 years of development, ASEAN has achieved a leap from confrontation to cooperation and then to community building. Against the backdrop of great power games and geopolitical tensions, the ASEAN approach and centrality have played an important role in maintaining regional peace and promoting mutual trust. The current power structure, system, and norms in Southeast Asia are undergoing transformation and reshaping, and research on the relationship between ASEAN and major powers has practical and strategic significance. With the intensification of competition between China and the United States, more comprehensive, proactive, and multidimensional research is needed on how ASEAN can maintain its centrality and shape a favorable regional order. This article combines the power, norms, institutions, and relational power of the international order, constructs an explanatory framework, and studies how ASEAN uses relational power to actively manage and regulate the impact of the China US game on regional security order, and more effectively maintain the centrality of ASEAN. ASEAN forms norms and constraints on China and the United States through controlling preferences, consolidates and manages major power relations through institutional frameworks, and achieves a balance of power among major powers through checks and balances. Under the strategic competition between China and the United States, the academic community has provided valuable references on how ASEAN can maintain its centrality and respond to regional security challenges, which also provides space for in-depth research in this article.

Maintaining ASEAN Centrality: Interpretations from Different Perspectives

Explored the survival and development strategies of small and medium-sized countries in Southeast Asia against the backdrop of significant changes in Sino US relations, particularly ASEAN's "New Middle Zone" strategy, institutional strategy, hedging strategy, as well as the perspectives of relationship theory and organizational ecology. The new middle ground strategy emphasizes strengthening the ties between ASEAN and its member countries and medium-sized powers to overcome the dilemma of being forced to choose sides. Institutional strategy aims to manage the relationship between ASEAN and major powers, prevent interference from major powers, and shape major power preferences through collective security strategies and institutional frameworks. Hedging strategy is seen as a middle ground between balancing and following small and medium-sized countries, hedging against China's regional dominance, US withdrawal from Asia, and regional order uncertainty. From the perspective of relational theory, ASEAN institutionalizes the "balance of relationships" as the "central position of ASEAN" through mechanisms such as relational power politics, relational networking, and emotional processes. The perspective of organizational ecology emphasizes the interactive relationship between the structure of ASEAN as a regional organization and the environment in Southeast Asia. These studies provide multi-layered explanatory tools for understanding how ASEAN uses relational power to manage the impact of the China US power game on regional security order and maintain its centrality.

The definition of the two core concepts and the construction of an explanatory framework

The three levels of international order include norms, institutions, and power, which correspond to the normative level of international politics, power based order, and rule-based order, respectively. The security order in Southeast Asia involves norms, systems, and power comparisons at the security level. Regional order is the product of interactions between countries in the region, as well as the result of power distribution, benefit distribution, and concept distribution. At the level of concepts and norms, the stability of regional conceptual structures and the transfer of power are influenced by the similarity of security concepts among regional actors. Norms guide or constrain national behavior by shaping, coordinating, and constraining the interaction of actors within the region. At the institutional level, as a political form that shapes the distribution of international power, institutions are not only rational cooperation based on their own interests, but also a way of expressing power and a means of building and maintaining order hierarchy. On the level of power, the power interaction between countries affects the distribution of power within the order, and the distribution of power forms the main form of regional security order.

Practice of ASEAN relational power in the context of the Three China US game

Analyzed how ASEAN shapes regional order through relational power in the context of the China US game. ASEAN has strengthened its role as a stakeholder in the regional security order in the South China Sea by promoting the resumption of consultations on the Code of Conduct (COC) and preventing sovereignty norms from undermining regional multilateral processes. ASEAN has incorporated controversial issues into its cooperation framework, exerted influence on actors through norms, maintained communication with China to increase mutual trust, and put forward the "Six Principles of ASEAN on the South China Sea Issue", clearly stating the need to reach a COC as soon as possible. ASEAN also prevents the politicization of the regulation of "freedom of navigation", and adheres to the principle of "de agenda" to maintain freedom of navigation, which is not targeted at specific countries, but only serves as a principle to ensure maritime security and stability. ASEAN actively disseminates cooperative security norms, regards maritime cooperation as the main topic of regional cooperation in the process of COC restart and promotion, and promotes mutual trust building.

Four relational powers and regional security order

Explored the role of ASEAN in the security order of Southeast Asia, emphasized the cultural characteristics and practicality of the "ASEAN Way", and its importance in cultivating regional community awareness and handling major power relations. As a behavioral standard for regional actors to interact, ASEAN norms have a constraining and coordinating effect on national behavior. Despite limited material power, ASEAN has become a maintainer of regional order by balancing regional countries and strengthening its own legitimacy through relational power practices. Through a strategy of checks and balances, ASEAN manages the power competition between China and the United States, maintains neutrality, develops friendly partnerships with major powers, and becomes the "master" and "coordinator" of regional security cooperation. The successful coordination of ASEAN is attributed to its neutral stance, treaty relations with other actors, and the establishment of shared norms and principles for security cooperation. ASEAN links various actors in the regional security architecture and resolves conflicts and disputes through negotiation and consultation. Power, system, and ideology are the three components of regional security order. ASEAN maintains its "centrality" through relational power, but relies on the goodwill and cooperation of major powers. The relational power and influence of ASEAN are under pressure, and the escalation of geopolitical competition between China and the United States may cause uncertainty in regional security. The opportunistic orientation of ASEAN member states also constitutes a resistance to promoting regional security measures. China should support the central position of ASEAN and jointly shape a favorable regional security environment.