Associate Fellow Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Titli Basu’s article ‘China-Japan Power Play in Southeast Asia’ has been published in Pacific Forum on November 5, 2020. Strategic choices for Southeast Asia are becoming difficult amidst structural transitions in the international system. With US-China strategic contest at global level and China-Japan competition at regional level, balancing relations with competing powers is not easy for Southeast Asia. But it also presents an opportunity to leverage great power competition and maximise economic advantages and security guarantees. For Southeast Asia, it will never be a zero-sum game. ASEAN First will be the guiding principle, writes Dr. Basu.