China has dethroned the US to become the top alignment choice for Southeast Asians, as Washington loses ground on a range of key issues from regional economic engagement to the Israel-Hamas War, a new survey showed.
A survey of 1,994 Southeast Asians by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute published yesterday shows China’s popularity in a head-to-head race with the US climbing from 38.9 percent last year to 50.5 percent in 2024.
Among individual nations, Beijing garnered some three out of four votes in Muslim-majority Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
Photo: China Daily via REUTERS
“Confidence in the US has waned,” the survey said. “This could be attributed partly to the escalating rivalry between China and the US, which led to an uptick in anxiety about the US’ growing strategic and political influence.”
Southeast Asian nations have largely embraced the US as a necessary security presence as US President Joe Biden’s administration ramps up military-to-military cooperation in a bid to counter Bejing’s growing defense prowess. However, the region also counts on China as a key financier and trading partner at a time regional leaders seek new investments to bolster their own economies.
Part of the issue for the US are concerns over economic engagement.
Southeast Asians are “increasingly unsure” about the effectiveness of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, a US-led endeavor to increase trade that has been criticized for its lack of meaningful market access.
China is once again seen as the most influential economic and political strategic power in the region, “outpacing the US by significant margins in both domains,” it said.
The latest poll also puts the Israel-Hamas conflict at the top of the list of the region’s geopolitical concerns, with a large proportion of respondents worried “Israel’s attack on Gaza has gone too far.”
Nearly a third of respondents were wary that the Middle East war would catalyze the rise of extremist activities, while diminished trust in international law and a rules-based order was the second-top concern.
“The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict has emerged as a contentious issue in Southeast Asia, commanding significant attention in the region’s domestic politics,” the survey said. “Despite its geographical distance, the conflict has reverberated strongly across this diverse multi-racial and multi-religious region.”
Whether those sentiments are responsible for the US’ drop in standing among regional nations is unclear, said Bonnie Glaser, head of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund.
“Without more data it’s impossible to answer that,” she said during a presentation of the results.
The US has diplomatically and militarily backed Israel in its quest to destroy Hamas, in the aftermath of the group’s Oct. 7 attack.
While sentiments have broadly shifted toward China, tensions in the South China Sea was the second-biggest geopolitical concern in the latest study. In a hypothetical choice between the US and China, Washington still commands majority support from the Philippines at 83.3 percent and Vietnam at 79 percent, which are at the forefront of the territorial disputes with Beijing.
Broadly, “there is a growing sense of optimism among Southeast Asians regarding their future relations with China,” the report said. “The Philippines emerged as the most cautious.”
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS