The 35th ASEAN Summit, the 14th East Asia Summit and other related summits (ASEAN +1, ASEAN +3), are being held in the context of volatile global and regional situation, particularly the complicated situation in the East Sea, with the risk of conflict rising due to the increase of China’s activities in the East Sea. Dr Collin Koh, a research fellow at the IDSS, RSIS, NTU Singapore, said: “Unless there is a firm international response against Chinese actions in Vanguard Bank, there could be similar repeats in the coming years simply because Beijing realises to its glee that coercion pays. It will thereby embolden not only China, but other potential state actors in the region or elsewhere, to normalise coercion as the standard toolkit of statecraft, where might makes right, increasing the risk of instability in the region.”