Brian Wong, DPhil in Politics candidate and Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford
Feb 08, 2022
The RCEP is the largest free trade agreement in global history - but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be smooth sailing for China and its partners in Southeast Asia.
Sajjad Ashraf, Former Adjunct Professor, National University of Singapore
Feb 08, 2022
ASEAN is the crossroads of the Pacific, and one of the world’s most strategically valuable trade routes. Their high volume of trade with both the U.S. and China put them at the intersection of something else - the escalating struggle between the two superpowers for global supremacy.
Tao Wenzhao, Honorary Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Fellow, CASS Institute of American Studies
Aug 18, 2021
The United States has been unsuccessful in its attempts to rally Southeast Asia against China. In recent months, it has mounted a transparent effort to curry favor in the region. But nobody wants to choose between major trading powers. They’d rather keep their options open.
Ma Shikun, Senior Journalist, the People’s Daily
Jul 16, 2021
The idea that ASEAN countries rely on the U.S. for security and on China for economy may be overstated. What is true is that they benefit from cooperation with China under the principle of mutual benefit and reciprocity, and they don’t want to rock the boat.
Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, Research Fellow, Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress
Jun 22, 2021
China recently initiated a wave of diplomatic courtship of ASEAN nations, as both sides work to navigate the reality of China’s resurgent gravity in the Pacfic region.
Richard Javad Heydarian, Professorial Chairholder in Geopolitics, Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Jun 22, 2021
Southeast Asia’s coalition of small-to-medium sized nations have hosted superpower conflicts, yet they are overshadowed by larger regional powers on the global stage time and time again. American leadership will struggle to find welcoming allies there without a drastic upgrade in its dealings with ASEAN member nations.
Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, Research Fellow, Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress
Apr 29, 2021
With the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) expected to take effect next year, China steps up building its first free trade port in Hainan. It shows how Beijing is preparing to capitalize and contribute to the success of the world’s largest free trade agreement (FTA).
Zhang Yun, Associate Professor, National Niigata University in Japan
Sep 18, 2020
The integrated bloc means an improved strategic environment to China’s south. Among other things, war has been eliminated and two-way economic ties have become closer. As a result, ASEAN has become China’s largest trading partner, eclipsing the European Union.
Du Lan, Assistant Research Fellow, China Institute of International Studies.
Nov 19, 2019
While ASEAN countries remain reliant on the United States for defense, they don’t want to be part of any U.S.-led encirclement of China because they fear their interests could be harmed and their neutrality challenged.
Richard Javad Heydarian, Professorial Chairholder in Geopolitics, Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Sep 17, 2019
ASEAN’s best strategy for keeping China’s revisionist ambitions at bay and preserving maximum room for strategic maneuver is to engage the USA.