This panel examines China’s changing role in the global system before the backdrop of aggravating tensions between Washington and Beijing. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy and the statements by the members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue indicate an increased concern about China’s activities in Southeast Asia and about Beijing’s maritime great power ambitions. How does Beijing’s foreign strategy change impact on the ASEAN-centered vision of regional multilateralism? How do states respond to Chinese investment and infrastructure activities, especially those located along the Mekong River? What are the predominant images and scenarios shaping the U.S. perception of China and its strategic responses to China’s rise? And, finally, can the apparent Sino-US rivalry be reduced to the old black-and-white autocracydemocracy divide?