The reasons for such security risks vary from economy to economy. Essentially, outdated security concepts of many regional economies and the lack of security rules recognized by all are to be blamed for that.

Of course, every government has its reason to support one security policy and oppose another. But the highly diversified security mechanism and rules hinder trust building among Asia-Pacific economies. Biased security policies that include "zero-sum games" and the "Cold War mentality" have become the hallmark of some regional powers like the US. And since policymakers would rather add political color to policies that would please their voters, even a loose agreement on security among leaders could be shelved or reinterpreted differently in practice.

Given these conditions, the "Asia-Pacific economic engine" could come to a halt, leading even to global recession, if tensions among the regional economies continue. To prevent this and maintain the momentum of economic cooperation, all economies in the region have to work together to promote a more inclusive and creative Asia-Pacific security mechanism. Of course, it should include the existing spirit of equality, negotiation, cooperation and inclusion that all sides advocate.

The author is deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.