Though domestic factors are the main cause of political instability in these countries, external factors, too, have a role to play. First, domestic politics in some of these countries is becoming "polarized" and have fallen into a "democracy dilemma". Some of the countries have reached a political impasse because of a confrontation between "two camps", led by two of the most powerful parties. For example, in Thailand, the "conservatives" and the "pro-Thaksin" forces have been locked in a game of political one-upmanship, resulting in chaos.

Second, domestic economic imbalance has caused serious social conflicts in some of these countries. They have intensified further because of the global financial crisis. The growing gap between the haves and have-nots and escalating social contradictions have led to fierce violent or non-violent resistance by several vulnerable groups. The political turmoil in Kyrgyzstan is one such example.

Third, international terrorism, religious extremism and ethnic separatism have been problems for countries in West, South, Central and Southeast Asia for a long time. And Al-Qaida, Taliban and other terrorist groups are still very active in these regions.

Besides, intense interference by some Western countries in the internal affairs of several nations neighboring China has led to chaos. The Barack Obama administration's new global geopolitical strategy refocuses on Asia through "smart power", which is characterized by a carrot-and-stick policy.

Political instability in its neighboring countries poses a great challenge to China's peaceful development. First, the "spillover effect" of the unrest threatens the stability and security of China's frontier areas. Second, the military presence of Western powers around China has squeezed the geopolitical support base for its peaceful development. Third, China's "going out" strategy toward its neighboring areas has been thwarted because of the pressure on it to guard its overseas interests. Fourth, China's foreign policy toward its neighboring countries faces new challenges, as does its diplomatic principle of "non-interference in other's internal affairs" because of the global pressure on it to undertake more "global responsibilities". And fifth, these instabilities are detrimental to regional cooperation and thus hinder Asia's economic integration.

But despite facing such a complicated situation, China should continue to keep its neighboring areas on the priority agenda and expedite the formation of a "big periphery" strategy. Moreover, it should coordinate with the countries around it to implement the friendly neighboring policies in order to maintain stability and development in its frontier regions and effectively deal with the risks caused by political instability in its neighbors.

The author is an associate research scholar at World Politics Research Institute under the China Institute ofContemporary International Relations.