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China has already succeeded in winning close allies in Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia) and is looking to expand its influence. Thailand frequently cooperates with China and the current president of the Philippines also has warm relations with Beijing. The region’s future will be determined by how the other states proceed. The region’s international organizations (like ASEAN) are split between those that favor China and those that prefer autonomy.

With the “leadership frame,” the chapter unearths a new interpretive frame of the Charter from 2009 onward, suggesting a gradual return of extant ideas of Indonesian foreign policymaking. The chapter also scrutinizes the internalization of the new EU-inspired ideas of regionalism. The litmus tests were events in which the territorial and economic sovereignty of Indonesia was challenged, such as the disputes with Malaysia over maritime borders and the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area. The response to these events showed that most stakeholders except civil society threw overboard many of the liberal-cosmopolitan values associated with European regional integration. Last, the chapter examines whether this ideational reversal continued under the Jokowi government and suggests that the latter did not abruptly break with the foreign policy of his predecessor. Many of the seemingly new Jokowi policies had their roots in the second term of the Yudhoyono presidency.

For something like two millennia, the Silk Road has functioned as a conduit, for ideas as well as trade. China’s rise now presents both challenges and opportunities to countries situated on both the maritime and terrestrial Silk Roads, particularly in higher education. Beginning with Europe’s response to China’s renaissance as a major knowledge system, differential responses within Europe are charted, and student and staff flow treated. Some signs of change are evident, from 2018, particularly in relation to sensitive high-tech areas such as those listed in the signature Made in China 2025 policy. But the Silk Road also points South, hence the remainder of the chapter addresses higher education relations between China and ASEAN, and in particular, Malaysia. The Six Pillars framework is used to outline the major elements of China–ASEAN relations, particularly regarding higher education, including the development of the overseas campus of Xiamen University in Malaysia.