The Shifting Power Structure of Northeast Asia and China’s Strategic Choices in the 2020s

The Northeast Asian (NEA) power structure demonstrates a weakening unipolarity of the United States (U.S.), which will evolve into a power structure with “multilateral co-opetition of two superpowers (China and the U.S.) and three regional great powers (Russia, Japan, and South Korea)” during the 2020s. In the context of this shifting power structure, the other ﬁ ve NEA states will adjust their diplomatic policies. Japan, Russia, and South Korea, which occupy the second tier of the NEA power structure, will pursue regional great power diplomacy and regional interests. Russia will maintain a careful balance with China and the U.S., and will use investments from the other NEA states pragmatically to develop its Far East region. Japan will seek to maximize its security guarantees from the U.S. while actively obtaining economic bene ﬁ ts from China, and will try to remain ﬂ exible in terms of its NEA strategic choice. South Korea will implement the so-called “two superpowers diplomacy” in relation to the U.S. and China in order to enhance its strategic autonomy. With relatively weak national power, North Korea and Mongolia occupy the third tier of the NEA power structure, and they will try to ensure the survival of their respective regimes and promote national security. China’s strategic choices for NEA in the next decade are likely to include ﬁ ve aspects: 1) to avoid a “new Cold War” and achieve a strategic balance with the U.S.; 2) to maintain friendly and close strategic ties with Russia; 3) to actively promote economic cooperation with the other NEA countries; 4) to promote the establishment of a regional security mechanism in the future that includes all the NEA states, for example, a “Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Organization” (NEAPCO); and 5) to construct a collective NEA identity.


Introduction
Northeast Asia (NEA), which stretches west into the heart of the Eurasian continent to audit national geopolitical capability in 2019: "national base" (national wealth, population structure, national spread, and self-suffi ciency); "national structure" (economic clout, technological prowess, and cultural prestige); "national instruments" (diplomatic leverage and military might); and "national resolve" (government effi cacy, economic resolve, strategic resolve, and altruistic resolve). 1 What are the aspects of the strategic competition between China and the U.S. in the NEA region? What foreign policy adjustments will the NEA states make in light of the intensifi ed strategic competition between China and the U.S. and the evolution of power structure in NEA? What are China's strategic choices for NEA in the next decade? This article will analyze the above three issues.

NEA Will Evolve into a Power Structure with two Superpowers and three Regional Great Powers in the Next Decade
At the end of the Cold War, the NEA power structure was "one superpower dominates, and three regional great powers coexist." In 1990, U.S. national power accounted for 40.7% of the total power of the seven NEA states, followed by Japan (20.7%), China (18.2%), Russia (then the Soviet Union, 14.2%), South Korea (4.4%), North Korea (1.2%) and Mongolia (0.6%) (see Table 1). In the 2000s, the national power comparison of the seven NEA states demonstrated a weakening unipolarity of the U.S. After peaking at 49.4% in 2002, the proportion of U.S. national power in seven NEA states declined to 41.2% in 2018. Meanwhile, the proportion of China's national power in the seven NEA states increased from 20.3% in 2000 to 32.2% in 2018. Before the turn of the century, the gap between China and the U.S. in terms of relative national power was large, with China never reaching half of the relative national power of the U.S. However, China's rapid economic growth and increased military spending since the 2000s has meant that the gap between its relative national power and that of the U.S. has been gradually narrowing.
In 1995, Japan's national power accounted for 26.4% of the total power of the seven NEA states, but this proportion dropped to 11.6% in 2018. Russia's national power in NEA dropped signifi cantly in the initial days following the collapse of the Soviet Union, from 14.2% in 1990 to 3.0% in 1992. After 1992, Russia's national power began to recover slowly. From 2000 to 2018, its national power increased slightly, but has never exceeded 10% of the total national power of the seven NEA states.
The relative national power of South Korea increased steadily from 1990 to 2018, with its share in the seven NEA states increasing from 4.4% in 1990 to 7.8% in 2018. North Korea's national power is relatively weak, and its relative national power decreased from 1.2% in 1990 to 0.6% in 2018. Mongolia's national power is also relatively weak. From 1990 to 2018, its national power accounted for 0.2% to 0.8% of the seven NEA states (see Table and   The data in Table 1 and Figure 1 shows that China is rapidly approaching the U.S. in terms of national power. The original U.S. "one superpower" structure in the NEA region is changing. It was around the year 2000 that China's national power surpassed that of Japan, after which the national power gap between the two countries gradually widened, with Japan falling into the second tier in the NEA power structure. Although Russia's relative national power increased slightly from 1992 to 2018, it is still a long way behind China, and the U.S. South Korea's national power increased signifi cantly from 1990 to 2018, and it has become a second-tier regional middle power. North Korea and Mongolia belong in the third tier of the NEA power structure due to their underdeveloped economies and weak national strength (see Table 2). According to the predictive analysis in Figure 2, the national power comparison of the seven NEA states will continue the previous "weakening of U.S. unipolarity" process in the 2020s. From 2020 to 2030, China and the U.S. will continue to occupy the fi rst tier of the NEA power structure. The relative national power of the U.S. is expected to decline from 36.9% in 2020 to 32.0% in 2030, while that of China will grow from 33.2% in 2020 to 40.1% in 2030. According to forecasts, China will reach the same national power level as the U.S. around 2024. From 2020 to 2030, Russia, Japan and South Korea will occupy the second tier, with Russia's relative share in seven NEA states projected to be between 6% and 7%, Japan's between 12% and 14%, and South Korea's around 7%. North Korea and Mongolia will be in the third tier of the NEA power structure, with North Korea's relative share of national power in the seven NEA states expected to be between 0.5% and 0.6%, while Mongolia's will be between 0.9% and 1.1% (see Figure 2 and Tables 1 and 3). By 2024, China and the U.S. are expected to have a signifi cantly higher level of national power than the other NEA states (see Figure 2 and Tables 1 and 3). Looking forward to 2024-2030, the NEA power structure will likely be divided into two superpowers (China and the U.S.) and three regional great powers (Japan, Russia, and South Korea).

China-U.S. Strategic Competition in NEA in the Next Decade
In the 2020s, the NEA power structure will evolve into "two superpowers and three regional great powers." The U.S. will try to maintain its hegemony in the NEA region, but its capabilities and confi dence will be weakened. China will strive to maintain the upward momentum of its comprehensive national power and reduce the negative eff ects imposed by the strategic competition with the U.S. The narrowing power gap between China and the U.S. and the emerging power shift have led the U.S. to regard China as its primary strategic competitor in NEA and the world. There are essentially three aspects to the China-U.S. strategic competition in the NEA region: military competition, the competition between multilateral systems and bilateral alliances, and the competition between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Indo-Pacifi c Strategy.

China-U.S. Military Competition in Northeast Asia
The military competition between China and the U.S. revolves primarily around the development of next-generation missile technology, and this competition is extremely fi erce. In order to gain a strategic advantage in NEA, China and the U.S. have actively developed various medium-range missiles and hypersonic weapon systems in recent years that are aimed at each other (see Table 4). 1 The U.S. has been developing its DeepStrike missile with a range of 700 km, as well as its Strategic Strike Cannon Artillery (1600 km), and strategic fi re missiles that can reach as far as 2500 km. The Trump administration announced its withdrawal from the INF Treaty in February 2019. Since then, the U.S. has been looking for a country in the NEA region where it can deploy its medium-range missiles. 2 In March 2017, the U.S. started deployment of its THAAD antimissile system in South Korea. The THAAD radar system will likely be able to detect a missile launch by China, should that happen.
In recent years, China has diversifi ed its arsenal to promote its Anti-Access/ Area Denial strategy (A2/AD). The Chinese army has fi elded an DF-21D anti-vessel ballistic missile with a range of 1800-3000 km and DF-26 missiles with a range of 5000 km. China opposes the deployment by the U.S. of medium-range missiles in the Asia-Pacifi c region and hopes that countries such as South Korea and Japan will not allow medium-range missiles to be deployed in their respective territories. 3 Table 4.

China-U.S. Competition: Multilateral Systems and Bilateral Alliances
The multilateral cooperation system advocated by China and the bilateral alliance system led by the U.S. exist at the same time within NEA. There are signifi cant diff erences between the advocating (leading) and participating countries in these systems, as well as in their theoretical underpinnings (see Table 5). Tensions exist between the multilateral cooperation system and the bilateral alliance system, which is manifested as multilateral vs. unilateral, multipolar vs. unipolar, and economic and trade means vs. military means. 1 Table 5. China actively promotes multilateral cooperation in the NEA region. It aims to the negotiations on a China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Zone, calls for the resumption of the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue, and promotes the replacement of the Korean Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty. China and the other NEA states have reached a series of multilateral institutional arrangements in various fi elds such as politics, security, economy, environment, disease control, combating transnational crime, and cyberspace (see Table 6). 2 Japan and South Korea are critical of the NEA strategy of the U.S. Both the U.S.-Japan alliance and the U.S.-South Korea alliance are over 60 years old, with extensive economic and security cooperation agendas. Japan and South Korea continue to host the bulk of the forward deployed U.S. forces in the NEA region. The U.S. alliances with Japan and South Korea aim not only to deter the North Korean threat, but also to balance China. Based on this strategy, the U.S. has spent signifi cant eff orts in recent years, strengthening trilateral cooperation with Japan and South Korea. However, a number of signs point to the debilitating nature of this cooperation, which is primarily due to the recent developments in each nation's domestic aff airs, including the Trump administration's "America First" policy, the historical revisionism in Japan, and the focus on North Korea under the Moon administration. 1 The U.S. is expected to continue to adhere to its bilateral alliance policy in the next decade. And it will keep a cautious eye on the development of regionalism within NEA, suspicious of a multilateral framework that may push it to the sidelines.

Competition between the BRI and the Indo-Pacifi c Strategy
The Silk Road Economic Belt was fi rst proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2013. One month later, he put forward the idea of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Together, the two are now referred to as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 1 In May 2015, the Chinese and Russian leaders signed the Joint Statement of China and Russia on Cooperation in the Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Eurasian Economic Union. According to the joint statement, the two sides would work to connect the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the development of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to strengthen regional economic integration. 2 In June 2016, China, Mongolia, and Russia developed the Outline of the Construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor. The construction of this economic corridor will promote regional economic integration, as well as the integration of the respective development strategies of the countries involved, and lay a solid foundation for interconnecting their respective infrastructures. 3  Japan and South Korea (the allies of the U.S. in the NEA region) have also participated in the BRI. In June 2017, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that Japan would join China in the funding of BRI projects if certain conditions were met. 5 In May 2018, China and Japan signed a memorandum on third-party market cooperation between the enterprises of the two countries. South Korea's Moon Jae-in government actively participates in the construction of the BRI. In January 2020, the President said that South Korea would continue to accelerate the pace of docking and advance its New Southern and Northern policies with the BRI. 6 In the U.S., the Trump administration is actively promoting its Indo-Pacifi c Strategy as a counterbalance to the BRI. In November 2017, President Trump proposed the advancement of a "free and open Indo-Pacifi c" during an offi cial visit to Southeast Asia. 7 The U.S. Department of Defense released its Indo-Pacifi c Strategy Report in June 2019, which singled out China, Russia, and North Korea as potential threats, saying that China is a revisionist power that specializes in a "predatory economy". 1 The Report emphasizes that the U.S.-Japan Alliance is "the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacifi c," the U.S.-ROK Alliance "the linchpin of peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia," and the U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral partnership "critical to peace and security in the Indo-Pacifi c region." Meanwhile, Mongolia is regarded as an important Indo-Pacifi c partner. 2 In January 2020, an assessment report submitted by the Center for a New American Security to the U.S. Congress pointed out that the U.S. criticizes China for driving a more closed and illiberal future for the Indo-Pacifi c, which would undermine vital U.S. interests. 3 China is skeptical of the potential risks that the Indo-Pacifi c Strategy may contain. In July 2019, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed his views on the Indo-Pacifi c concept. He believes that regional cooperation initiatives and designs should follow the following three principles: "Firstly, focusing on East Asia and Asia, without aff ecting the existing cooperation mechanisms and achievements in the region; secondly, focusing on cooperation and consensus, without engaging in geographic confrontation and games; thirdly, focusing on openness and inclusiveness, without forming factions or seeking small cliques." 4 Japanese scholar Yamazaki Amane believes that China views the Indo-Pacifi c Strategy as an example of Washington's power politics, which are intended to impede Beijing's relationship with neighboring countries. 5 If the U.S. uses the Indo-Pacifi c Strategy as a tool to interfere with BRI and even contain China, China will fi rmly oppose it.

The Foreign Policy Adjustment of NEA States Facing China-U.S. Strategic Competition
Facing the China-U.S. strategic competition in the next decade, the NEA states at the second and third tiers will make corresponding policy adjustments. Although they are all subject to the "two superpowers and three regional great powers" structure in the next decade, the second-tier states will have more room for strategic choice than the third-tier states. At the second tier of the NEA power structure, Russia, Japan, and South Korea will pursue regional great power diplomacy and to further their regional interests. North Korea and Mongolia, ranking at the third tier of the NEA power structure, will concentrate on ensuring the survival of their regimes and on national security. might, geopolitical reach, and the energy sector. 1 Although becoming less "West-centric" is a very long process, the essential truth is that Russia's long-term future depends on a much more substantial and eff ective engagement with the NEA region. In the next decade, Russia's foreign policy priorities in NEA are expected to include the following: First, it will likely maintain a maximum balance in the China-U.S. strategic competition. China has become a key economic, fi nancial, and technological partner for Russia. Russia will continue to develop its strategic partnership with China, which is certainly in Moscow's best interests, while trying to maintain a certain balance in their relations at the same time. 2 Considering that the U.S. regards China as its main rival, Russia will try to restart relations with the U.S. However, this is easier said than done, since the hostility of the U.S. political elites towards Russia has not disappeared or diminished. In addition, Russia will work hard to develop relations with E.U. countries, as well as with India and Japan in order to ensure a geopolitical balance in Eurasia. The most important principle is that Russia will carefully maintain a balance within the strategic competition between China and the U.S.
Second, Russia will actively promote economic cooperation in NEA and use the investments from other NEA states to develop its Far East region. Russia launched the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in 2015, which aims to support the economic development of Russia's Far East and expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacifi c. As of September 2019, Russia had hosted fi ve EEFs. Over 1,780 new investment projects worth over RUB 3.8 trillion and 230 new enterprises have appeared in Russia's Far East during the last fi ve years. 3 Investment from China has accounted for 71 percent of the total direct foreign investments (worth 33 billion USD) that have come to Russia's Far East in the past four years. 4 Russia will continue to build good-neighborly relations and promote mutually benefi cial cooperation with Japan, 5 although Japan claims four Southern Kuril Islands, which have been under Russia's jurisdiction for more than seven decades. Moscow aims to continue discussing political issues for as long as possible, without losing sovereignty over any of its territories. At the same time, it hopes to attract Japanese investment and expanding trade with the country. 6 Russia views South Korea as a potentially important economic partner in developing the Russian Far East. Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agree that trilateral economic cooperation with North Korea is needed. 7 It would not be an exaggeration to predict that China, Japan and South Korea will become more important economic partners for Russia in terms of developing its Far East region.
Third, Russia will not hesitate to look after its national interests in political and security aff airs. For example, regarding the Kuril Islands (Northern Territories) dispute with Japan, Russia's position is as follows: signing a peace treaty fi rst and then solving the territorial dispute and jointly developing the four islands even with Japan's economic temptation. The fact of the matter is that Russia is not willing to give up its strategic interests on the four islands. On the North Korean nuclear issue, Russia does not intervene deeply, but uses its status as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to force other countries to treat its interests seriously.

Japan's Foreign Policy Adjustment: Remaining Highly Flexible
Japan will try to remain highly fl exible on its NEA strategic choice. On the one hand, it seeks to maximize security guarantees from the U.S., while on the other, it actively strives to develop economic cooperation with China.
Due to islands dispute and maritime security competition with China in the East China Sea, Japan hopes to use its alliance with the U.S. to ensure its security and counterbalance China. There are disputes over the territorial sovereignty of the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands and maritime delimitation in the East China Sea between China and Japan. The escalation of the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands dispute since 2010 has soured relations even more between the two countries. In July 2014, the Shinzo Abe government issued a Cabinet Decision on the interpretation of the measures for Self-Defense permitted under Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, which stated that the government would commence the task of drafting legislation that enables seamless responses to any situations. 1 In September 2015, Japan's National Diet passed the Legislation for Peace and Security, which consists of the Act for the Development of the Legislation for Peace and Security (eff ectively a host of partial amendments to existing laws) and the newly enacted International Peace Support Act. 2 The Legislation for Peace and Security came into eff ect in March 2016.
The Abe government has been working to improve its tense diplomatic relations with China since 2017 when it adjusted its policy toward the country. It has also changed its opinion of China's BRI and intensifi ed the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with China. Japan has also rebranded its Free and Open Indo-Pacifi c (FOIP) strategy as a vision, adopting a relatively more cooperative approach, and emphasizing the promotion of free trade. The aim of Japan's FOIP is to link Asia and Africa and connect the Indian and Pacifi c oceans. Tokyo is attempting to garner more support from partners, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, and India, in order to promote FOIP as a non-divisive strategy. 3 The adjusted FOIP features "duality" in that it is both competitive and cooperative towards China.
Japan has maintained good diplomatic relations with China and the U.S. since 2017. The country stands in a unique position and may play the role of boosting cooperation and limiting confl ict between China, and the U.S. 4 Japan is expected to continue to maintain its alliance with the U.S. while trying to maintain good relations with China in the 2020s.

South Korea's Foreign Policy Adjustment: Searching for Autonomy
South Korea is perhaps the most sensitive of the three regional great powers to the dynamic NEA power structure. One reason for this is that any major changes in the NEA power structure may pose a major security challenge to the country. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in is thus trying to carve out as much economic and strategic autonomy as possible. 1 First, South Korea will implement the "two superpowers diplomacy" in its relations with the U.S. and China in order to enhance its own strategic autonomy. The Moon Jaein administration and the future South Korean government will remain committed to its alliance with the U.S., but it will not agree to form a U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral alliance. At the same time, it will actively seek to improve relations with China, which have been damaged by the deployment of THAAD. It is expected that South Korea will adopt a "wait and see" strategy in terms of any changes in the strategic competition between China and the U.S. For example, it will be cautious about taking any action with regard to the Huawei incident, so as to reduce the negative impact of China-U.S. competition.
Second, South Korea will try to put forward initiatives for the NEA region and even broader regions. For example, in 2005, former President Roh Moo-hyun proposed the "Northeast Asia Balancer Diplomacy"; in 2009, his successor, Lee Myung-bak, put forward the "New Asia Initiative"; in 2013, President Park Geun-hye proposed the "Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative"; and now President Moon Jae-in has proposed the "Responsible Northeast Asia Plus Community" policy. South Korea is expected to act as a coordinator in shaping NEA cooperation initiatives and mechanisms in the next decade, thereby shaping the development of regional cooperation.
However, South Korea's search for autonomy will be constrained by the situation on the Korean Peninsula. With the intensifi cation of U.S.-China strategic competition and the tensions on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea will have limited room for maneuver in the region. It would be in China's interests to encourage South Korea's autonomy in NEA aff airs.

North Korea's Foreign Policy Adjustment: Pursuing National Security
North Korea is primarily interested in ensuring national security, but its strategy has shifted from "military-fi rst politics" and "simultaneous nuclear and economic development" to "economic construction." During the Kim Jong-il era, North Korea insisted on the development of nuclear weapons and missile programs and adopted a "military-fi rst" policy.
With the arrival of Kim Jong-un in late 2011, North Korea has stepped up its eff orts to promote its nuclear weapons and its missile capabilities. During his rule, North Korea has conducted four nuclear tests and multiple ballistic missile tests. At the same time, however, Kim Jong-un is focused on developing North Korea's economy and is striving to increase comprehensive power to in order to maintain the country's national security eff ectively. In 2019, the North Korean economy (real GDP) increased by 1.8%, reversing the two consecutive years of negative growth in 2017 (−3.5%) and 2018 (−4.2%).
Since 2018, the situation on the Korean Peninsula has started to ease somewhat. In June of that year, Kim Jong-un and Trump met for the fi rst time in Singapore and issued a joint statement that included the following main points: (1) President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK; (2) Chairman Kim Jong-un reaffi rmed his fi rm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula; (3)

Mongolia's Foreign Policy Adjustment: Developing with "Th ird Neighbors"
Mongolia's NEA strategy is to prioritize relations with Russia and China, and proactively develop its relations with so-called "third neighbors." Strengthening its relationship with its two immediate neighbors, Russia and China, does not mean that it will be aligned with either of them or indeed with any third power. Instead, Mongolia aims to promote, to the extent possible, a balanced relationship with both its neighbors. 4 Beyond China and Russia, Mongolia is also diversifying its foreign relations through its "third neighbor" policy.
"Third neighbor" countries include not only the states such as the U.S., Germany, and Japan, but also international organizations such as the United Nations (U.N.), the European Union (E.U.), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). 1 Through the "third neighbors" policy, Mongolia strives to align its interests with those of developed countries and international organizations. The overarching goal of the policy is to create a political, economic, and legal environment where Mongolia's economy, national security, and prosperity depend not only on its two immediate neighbors, but also on the strategic interests and interdependence of third neighbors. 2 As far as Mongolia's diplomatic practice is concerned, the U.S. is the most important "third neighbor" country. One reason for this is that the U.S. is the only country that has enough power to balance China and Russia. Japan and South Korea also fall under the "third neighbor" banner, and Mongolia is focusing on developing relations with these two countries in the NEA region, and may play a role in the NEA multilateral framework in the future. Mongolia may be a small country, but it has lofty diplomatic ambitions.

China's Strategic Choices for NEA in the Next Decade
At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 2017, the CPC put forward a plan to make China a great modern socialist country by the middle of the 21 st century. According to the new plan, China's development goal is to implement socialist modernization between 2020 and 2035. 3 Maintaining long-term stability in NEA is an important external environmental guarantee for China to be a great modern socialist country. China's strategic choices for NEA in the next decade include the following: First, China will try to avoid a "new Cold War" and achieve a strategic balance with the U.S. in the NEA region. At present, military competition between China and the U.S. in NEA revolves primarily around the development of next-generation missile technology, and each country has its own advantages in this area. China is closing in on the U.S. in terms of its national power, and the two states are forming a strategic balance. In order to ensure superiority in the strategic competition with China, the U.S. will continue to focus on the development of the U.S.-Japan-Korea trilateral relationship in the next decade. China will develop bilateral relations with the other NEA countries and establish an NEA partnership network. To avoid confrontation and confl ict with the U.S., the authors argue that China can apply an institutional balancing strategy toward the U.S. Such a strategy suggests that the deepening economic interdependence creates conditions under which the countries are more likely to adopt a realistic balancing strategy to counter each other and pursue security through international institutions. At the same time, China will also strive to create opportunities for cooperation with the U.S. in the NEA region, which include combating infectious diseases (such as COVID-19, etc.), preventing fi nancial crises, responding to climate change, preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, and achieving lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Second, China will always maintain a friendly and close strategic partnership with Russia. Developing friendly relations with Russia is not a whim for China, but a longterm strategic choice. China and Russia share common interests in resisting American unipolar hegemony as well as support each other in events involving their respective national interests. China did not condemn Russia for its actions during the Russo-Georgian War of 2008 or the Ukrainian crisis of 2014. Russia, in turn, has never criticized China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and elsewhere. 1 However, China and Russia do have certain problems and diff erences at the regional level. The two countries are rivals in a number of geopolitical areas, as both have attempted to expand the scope of their respective regional infl uence: for example, Russia's policies toward Vietnam, the disagreements between the two countries in Central Asia, and their behavior in the Arctic. 2 In Central Asia, China has been one of Russia's biggest trade partners and investors within the BRI. However, Russia regards Central Asia as a top priority region that is within the area of its geopolitical interests. China will take into account Russia's concerns as much as possible when developing relations with Central Asian countries. For example, China actively promotes the joining of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the Eurasian Economic Union, welcomes Russia's "Greater Eurasian Partnership Initiative," and promotes the country's participation in the China-Kyrgyzstan-Ukraine railway extension projects. In short, China will respect Russia's geopolitical interests in Eurasia.
Third, China will actively promote economic cooperation with the other NEA states. China will combine its Revitalizing Northeast Strategy with participation in the development of the Russian Far East, and actively implement the Sino-Russian Cooperation and Development Plan in Russia's Far East Region (2018-2024. Beijing will also actively promote the construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, the docking of the "Silk Road Economic Belt," and the joint EAEU-Mongolia "Prairie Road Program." In addition, China will accelerate negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Zone and promote "China-Japan-South Korea + X" cooperation. North Korea will also be encouraged to integrate into the economic cooperation process in NEA, thereby creating new investment opportunities in the region. Fourth, China will promote the establishment of a regional security mechanism that includes all the NEA states. It will regard the settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue as a breakthrough and promote the signing of the proposed Peace Treaty on the Korean Peninsula in the near future. When promoting the settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue, China would prefer a package resolution by putting the concerns of all NEA parties in the negotiations on the Korean Peninsula peace mechanism. A durable peace regime in NEA should be a multilateral construction, one that includes China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, and the U.S. The authors argue that the NEA sates can discuss the possibility of establishing a "Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Organization" (NEAPCO) 3 in the future.
Fifth, China may promote the construction of a collective NEA identity. China can advocate "harmonious but diff erent" concepts in NEA to reduce strategic suspicion among the countries in the region. The authors believe that, since most NEA states have been profoundly infl uenced throughout their history by Confucian culture, China can combine the essence of Chinese Confucianism, such as "datong shijie" ("a world of grand unity"), "tianren heyi" ("the unity of heaven and humanity"), "rendao zhuyi" (humanitarianism), and "heping zhuyi" (pacifi sm), with the development of NEA in the 21 st century. China needs to learn from its traditional philosophy and propose the new concepts of regional collective identity that can be embraced by many of the NEA states. Maybe the "Community with a Shared Future for Mankind" expounded by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October 2017 can also be viewed as an approach to constructing collective NEA identity. 1

Conclusion
In the 2020s, the NEA will continue the power structure of the "weakening unipolarity of the U.S." that began in the fi rst decade of 21st century and has evolved into a power structure with "two superpowers and three regional great powers." According to the "national power index of the NEA states" model constructed by the authors (see Table 1), China's national power will continue to rise and, according to forecasts, it will reach the same national power level as the U.S. around 2024 (see Figure 2). In the 2020s, China and the U.S. will occupy the fi rst tier of the NEA power structure. Russia, Japan, and South Korea will be in the second tier, while North Korea and Mongolia will hold the third tier. Looking forward to 2024-2030, the NEA power structure will likely be divided into two superpowers (China and the U.S.) and three regional great powers (Russia, Japan, and South Korea).
In the context of the evolution of this power structure, the main confl ict in the 2020s will be the strategic competition between China and the U.S. The U.S. regards NEA as a key region for maintaining its hegemony and regards China as its main strategic competitor. China has further developed partnerships with the other NEA states and has strived to narrow the power gap with the U.S. There are essentially three aspects to the China-U.S. strategic competition in the NEA region: military competition, the competition between multilateral systems and bilateral alliances, and the competition between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Indo-Pacifi c Strategy.
Facing the China-U.S. strategic competition in the next decade, the NEA countries at the second and third tiers will make respective policy adjustments. At the second tier of the NEA power structure, Russia, Japan, and South Korea will pursue regional great power diplomacy and to further their regional interests. Russia will work to maintain a balance between China and the U.S. and use the investments from the other NEA states pragmatically to develop its Far East region. Japan will seek to maximize its security guarantees from the U.S. while actively obtaining economic benefi ts from China, and will try to remain fl exible in terms of its NEA strategic choice. South Korea will stick to the "two superpowers diplomacy" in its relations with the U.S. and China in order to strengthen its own strategic autonomy. With relatively weak national power, North Korea and Mongolia occupy the third tier of the NEA power structure. North Korea will struggle 1 "习近平：决胜全面建成小康社会 夺取新时代中国特色社会主义伟大胜利--在中国共产党第十九次全国代表大会上的报告 (Secure a Decisive Victory in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects and Strive for the Great Success of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era: Xi Jinping Delivers at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on October 18, 2017)," Xinhua net., October 27, 2017, accessed September 13, 2020, http://www.xinhuanet.com/ politics/19cpcnc/2017-10/27/c_1121867529.htm.