Across the decades of the Cold War, Beijing faced dire threats to its security, first from the United States, then from the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) together, and finally from the Soviet Union alone. In addition, the People’s Republic inherited boundaries from the Republic of China regime that it defeated on the Chinese mainland in 1949. Those boundaries derived from the creation of national boundaries out of what before 1911 had been the frontiers of an empire—the Manchu Qing empire, which established hegemony over a vast stretch of East and Central Asia in the 18th century that included China itself. As such, the PRC inherited a roster of maritime territorial disputes with many of its neighbors. In that respect, Beijing shares similar security concerns with other nation-states that have emerged out of the international relations of empires in modern times, such as India and Indonesia.