The events along the India-China border in June 2020 reflect a period of larger contestation that will define the nature of the Asian order in years to come. Will it be a unipolar Asia, dominated by China? Or will it be an Asia where power lies distributed among multiple state actors across the region? In a broader context, as Brig. Arun Sahgal and Amb. H.K. Singh explain, the Chinese aggression may be “part of China’s strategic messaging to American allies and partners on the
inevitability of a Sino-centric Asia, and for Asia’s middle powers to stop ganging up against China or face the consequences from a predatory great power.”1
