Beijing has been on a charm offensive in Southeast Asia in recent weeks, but observers say it still has a long way to go to build trust in the region, given its territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

“Southeast Asia is important to China not just for its individual countries but for the strategic significance of ASEAN,” said Li Mingjiang, an Associate Professor at RSIS.  Preventing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from pivoting towards the United States, rather than China, on key strategic issues was of huge importance to Beijing, he said