Faced with the structural reality of China, Southeast Asia is trying to turn it into an advantage without losing control of its choices
China-Asean relations are usually described in two ways. One emphasises danger: the South China Sea, US-China rivalry, military pressure and risk of Southeast Asia being pulled into China’s orbit. The other emphasises opportunity: trade, infrastructure, investment, supply chains and shared growth.
Both are true. Neither is enough.
relationshipbetween China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations lies beyond the usual language of geopolitics. It is being built through food systems, satellites, aircraft, universities, finance, culture, infrastructure, data centres, business networks and regional institutions.
food security. More than supply, food security for China means quality, safety, standards and consumer trust. The “24-hour milk” we were served was a statement about reliability in a society that still remembers
That concern about basic security sat beside China’s technological frontier. Visits to companies involved in the commercial satellite and electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft businesses showed a country trying to shape industries, not just join them. An exchange with a leading university added an intellectual dimension: China studies, Southeast Asian studies, Eurasian studies, technology, security, finance, climate and governance increasingly overlap.
Belt and Road Initiativeor US-China rivalry. It rests on older circuits of trade, migration, education, family networks and cultural familiarity that make China both more intimate and politically sensitive in Southeast Asia than most external powers.