From China’s US Ambassador:
At a seminar in New York, China’s ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said Washington needed to think hard about the purpose of its military presence in Asia and whether its political agenda and those of its Asian allies were the same.
He spoke of the need to move away from “outdated alliances” and warned against any attempt to create an Asian version of the NATO Western military alliance to contain China.
“If your mission there is to contain some other country, then you are back in the Cold War again, maybe,” he said. If your intention is to establish an Asian NATO, then we are back in the Cold War-era again. This is something that will serve nobody’s interest, it’s quite clear.”
SEATO didn't work last time, either. The proper military role for the US in Asia remains muddled - at least in part because everybody still hates Japan. With Singapore and South Korea having become much closer to China over the past two decades, the alliances at this point really aren't all that clear.