Countries in Asia will not side with one great power or another all the time, regardless of the issue.

Rather, they will consider their own interests before deciding who to back, if at all, said panellists at a conference yesterday.

“We are not wedded to any one great power,” said Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a deputy in Indonesia’s vice-president’s office.

… Smaller countries in East Asia simultaneously hedge their bets between the United States and China, “bandwagon” behind one on an issue while balancing against it on another because of the uncertainty of international politics, said Singapore Ambassador-at- Large Bilahari Kausikan.

“We see no contradiction in doing so,” he added at the conference, “South-east Asia and the United States: A Stable Foundation in an Uncertain Environment?”, jointly organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and Brookings Institution, a think-tank in the US.