31 July 2019
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- China and US Court ASEAN Members to Strengthen Indo-Pacific Ties as Trade War Enters Second Year
China and US Court ASEAN Members to Strengthen Indo-Pacific Ties as Trade War Enters Second Year
China and the United States are on a mission to strengthen ties with allies and expand their influence in Southeast Asia this week as their trade war enters a second year.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bangkok on Wednesday to promote the US-led Indo-Pacific strategy, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi touched down a day earlier to advance Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
This year’s ASEAN forum was taking place as countries were more receptive to Chinese initiatives, in part due to the unpredictability of the US administration, according to Rajeev Ranjan Charturvedy, a visiting fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
“Policy uncertainties under the Trump administration have already pushed some ASEAN countries towards China in ways that would have seemed unlikely a few years ago,” Charturvedy said.
RSIS / Online / Print
Last updated on 01/08/2019
