Since 2010, a series of conflicts and disputes arising from some countries' claims to China's territory in the South China Sea have affected China's image in Southeast Asia. China's hard-won image as a responsible power in Southeast Asia has encountered a crisis of trust.

For some Southeast Asian countries, China is "a partner that needs to be guarded against", and this mentality is reflected in their approach to strategic and traditional security issues.

Some countries that have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea worry that China's military modernization and growing nationalist sentiment will enable it to resolve the disputes by force or threat of force. They therefore deliberately seek to multilateralize the dispute by involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United States.