China's main strategic purpose of involving itself in Asian affairs is not to turn Asia into its own image, but to set up a full partnership with Asian nations through neo-regionalism.

Indeed, China is intent on establishing the type of relationship with Asian countries in which regional co-operation is pursued.

However, China's endeavours to strengthen ties with Asian countries, particularly with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, have already caused concerns from some in the United States.

An article entitled "The Charm from Beijing," carried by the New York Times on October 9 and authored by Jane Perlez, called China's efforts to actively involve itself in Asian affairs its ambition to forge its own "Monroe Doctrine."

The "Monroe Doctrine" was first put forward by then-US President James Monroe in 1823. Witnessing the increasing national strength of his country, the president declared the area near the United States as its own backyard to exclude foreign influences in the region.

It is true that China is making efforts to strengthen its relations with Asian countries.

Economically, China has already set up closer trade ties with its Asian neighbours through concluding bilateral or multilateral free trade agreements.

By enhancing dialogue, mutual trust and co-operation, China has gradually constructed strategic partnerships with some Asian countries.

China and the ASEAN countries have achieved more eye-catching results in two aspects.

The free trade agreement signed between the two economies is scheduled to take effect from next January.

China has already officially acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia (TAC), which has as its core principle the peaceful settlement of conflicts and non-interference into other countries' internal affairs.

But China's economic and political initiatives concerning Asia have nothing to do with a so-called "Monroe Doctrine."

An Asian "Monroe Doctrine" does not suit China given that China is not a hegemonic country.

In fact, it is Washington but not Beijing that has maintained a hegemonic status in Asia in political and security affairs.

The United States has brought security affairs in the Asia-Pacific region under its tight control by concluding bilateral military treaties with Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Australia, as well as forging quasi-military alliances with some Southeast Asian countries.

And it is also the US Navy - not China's military forces - that put the Pacific Ocean under its firm dominance.

China's economic strength is only one-fourth that of Japan. Even the overall economic shares of China and the ASEAN countries cannot match Japan's financial status.

The reason why the United States put forward the exclusive Monroe Doctrine more than 100 years ago was that the country by then had developed into a hegemonic power in the Western hemisphere.

Despite its being backed under the Americanism at that time, the doctrine was essentially aimed at driving Europe's influence, particularly that of Spain, away from the American Continent.

It is completely impossible for present-day China to advocate an Asianism exclusive of Western countries.

On the contrary, China is looking forward to setting up a more constructive relationship with the United States and other regional powers.

For instance, the relations between China and European countries have been developing smoothly. As a member of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), China consistently supports the active involvement of the European countries into Asian affairs.

Thus, it is extremely inappropriate to describe China's efforts to strengthen ties with Asian countries as an ambitious plan to set up its own Monroe Doctrine in the region.

The New York Times article also expresses its concerns over China's energy and resources relations with Southeast Asian countries.

It asserts that the Southeast Asian region has already become China's cheap raw materials and resources supply base.

In fact, such supply-demand ties between China and the regional countries are completely built upon the principle of voluntariness and market rules.

Southeast Asian countries are in no case China's economic and strategic backyard. And China has so far not established or will not establish its own "backyard" in Asia.

At the latest summit in Bali, Indonesia, the ASEAN members announced a drafted programme to establish their own economic and security communities. The group once again reconfirmed the great blueprint at the APEC summit recently concluded in Bangkok, Thailand.

Obviously, the concept for such communities within ASEAN has signalled an important development of East Asian regional integration. It also demonstrates that the ASEAN countries focus more attention upon their own integration.

Despite its increasingly closer economic and trade relations and ever-warming political ties with China, the ASEAN countries have on many occasions attributed their efforts to promote the establishment of an economic community within the group to pressing economic competition from China.

The regional group also holds an obvious precautionary consciousness against China when brewing the formation of a security community within its members.

China still has a long way to go before forging more constructive relations with countries in the region through regional co-operation.

Regional co-operation can only be pushed forward by countries which not only are adjacent geographically, but also interdependent in economic, social, ecological, and security fields.

Its steps are only decided by the collective wishes of the relevant countries on the basis of consultations, but not dominated by a single big power.

It is mistaken and ridiculous to apply the US example and mentality to China and Asia.

What Asian countries really seek by forging constructive relations with China is to gain more economic benefits and push China to play a more positive role in regional development.

(The author is a professor with the Institute of International Studies with Tsinghua University.)

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