China has called for – and given its most detailed sketch of – a new Asia-Pacific security framework that builds on existing mechanisms such as the Asean Regional Forum and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Its Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin outlined China’s vision of a “multi-layered, wide-ranging and comprehensive” architecture at a regional security forum yesterday.

… But Associate Professor Li Mingjiang of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies thinks China’s attempt to change the existing regional security architecture is a “mission impossible” in the short term.