Current increasing tensions in the Korean Peninsula and South China Sea show that political and economic dimensions in East Asia diverge drastically and security dilemma remains acute. This article will re-examine the basic security dilemma hypothesis, which presumes an anarchical status of international community. Neo-realist, neo-liberalist and constructionist schools agree that an anarchical status does not mean chaotic orderlessness. Barry Buzan indicates that international anarchy will evolve itself into a more mature phase and thereby alleviate tension caused by security dilemma. Interdependence is widely regarded as an effective variable enabling this evolution. The problem then is that interdependence is not free from the constraint of real-political power logics. This constraint deepens as the contemporary nation-state system of world politics expands, and as the interaction between security structures of various regions exposes their differences. This article argues that the difficulty in alleviating tension in East Asian security dilemma is inherited from the regional anarchy based on the nation-state system since the end of WWII, and complicated by the balance of power East Asian states were accustomed to in insuring security during the Cold War. After the end of Cold War, China's rise deepens this dilemma and thus constrains the evolution of East Asian anarchy to maturity. China's swift rise apparently expands asymmetry of national strengths within the region, manifests animosity caused by differences in statehood, ideologies and territorial disputes, and thereby worsens the sense of insecurity in the region, including China itself. More importantly, China's rise cancels some effects of its alleged policy of amity towards its neighbors, leading to another dilemma in security strategic choices in the future.