This study is an attempt to construct a basic framework of analysis about China`s political and economic influence on Southeast Asia through traditional Sinocentrism, anti-colonial nationalism, Cold War socialism and post-Cold War capitalism. As to the historical status of Southeast Asia vis-a-vis external forces such as India, China and the West, the colonial discourse tends to put excessive emphasis upon its dependence, and the posy-colonial discourse upon its autonomy. However, this study elucidates the political and economic interactions between China and Southeast Asia in a dynamic perspective, focusing on their reciprocal interactions beyond the essentially static dichotomy of autonomy and dependence. Chinese influence on Southeast asia can be divided into active and reactive one, with the former referring to direct and intended consequences and the latter to indirect and unintended consequences. In the historical process of active and reactive influence, both China and Southeast Asia were fundamentally proactive actors. Thus, the autonomy or dependence of Southeast Asia is just a question of relative one, with its actual extent and degree varying with specific spatial and temporal conditions.