A new report reveals China’s growing influence in Southeast Asia. Observations suggest that China is also ahead of the US.
The gap between China and US is expected to grow wider in the coming decade, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The report assessed the results of a survey held in November and December last year. It was conducted before the coronavirus outbreak, which began in China before spreading globally.
The Washington-based think tank's survey focused on non-governmental experts across Southeast Asia as well as those in international relations. With this, 188 such experts from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines answered the questionnaires.
“The results of this survey paint a picture of clearly ascendant Chinese influence in Southeast Asia, complex and diverging views of China, and deep concerns over U.S.-China strategic competition and its impact on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),” read the CSIS report, which was published on Wednesday.
The findings come as tensions between the US government and Beijing intensify further. The two countries have had conflicts about different issues, including China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and its growing control over Hong Kong, a region with a special trading relationship with the U.S.
Coronavirus pandemic
The reports authors believe the coronavirus pandemic may have affected the dynamics in Southeast Asia and how respondents perceive issues included in the survey. The writers said the report still holds a ground for comparison to evaluate trends in the region after the pandemic.
According to the survey, 94.5% of responsidents considered China as one of the three countries with the most political power and influence in Southeast Asia today. Meanwhile, 92% selected the US as one of their options.
Moreover, 94.5% saw China as one of the three countries which will possess the most political power and influence in Asia a decade from now. Only 77% chose the US.
Ninety six percent put China as one of the three countries with the most economic power and influence in Asia 10 years from now.
Meanwhile, respondents from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia were the most optimistic about China’s future political power and influence.
Despite China’s growing influence in Southeast Asia and surpassing the US in this field, respondents did not share the same perception of Beijing. A majority of 53% saw China’s role in the region as “very or somewhat beneficial,” compared with 46% who thought it’s “somewhat or very detrimental.”
Singapore had the highest proportion of respondents seeing China favorably, followed by Malaysia. Meanwhile, respondents from Vietnam and the Philippines recorded the most negative about Beijing’s position in Southeast Asia, based on the report's findings.
Southeast Asia’s significance
Another survey released this year by Singaporean think tank ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute showed that China remains the most influential economic and political power in the region.
However, most of the respondents expressed concern about China’s expanding influence in the region. Meanwhile, some of them finds that the US engagement with Southeast Asia diminishing under US President Donald Trump.
“The survey made clear that the region believes the relative balance of political power is changing, with a relative decline in U.S. influence,” said the report.
