To what extent was the Cold War in Asia a bipolar conflict?

When looking at the Cold War in general or in relation to Asia, it is important to understand that a conflict lasting a long period may go through changes, especially in cases of Cold War. This is true of the Cold War, as Hot Wars broke out other states became more powerful, and others diminished. A bipolar conflict was evident during the Cold War in two ways. First the balance of power was divided between two coalitions headed by the United States and the Soviet Union, secondly the struggle over the conflicting ideologies of Capitalism and Communism. However when looking at the Cold War in specific relation to Asia, at different points in time China became an influential player tipping the balance of power. This would suggest that there were times when the conflict in Asia assumed tripolarity. The alliance patterns in Asia were more precarious than in Europe as indicated by the collapse of the Sino-Soviet alliance but still had bipolar characteristics , at least in the first half of t...