Category: China-ASEAN

Southeast Asia’s Trade at Risk: How Trump’s Tariffs and Chinese Imports Threaten Regional Economies

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to introduce sweeping tariffs poses significant economic challenges for economies in Southeast Asia. The region could become a battleground for redirected Chinese exports, flooding local markets and disrupting industries. At the same time, trade imbalances, protectionist measures, and deficits add to the ...

Indonesia 2024 Presidential Election: Forecasting Future Proximity With China

Indonesia will hold a presidential election next year that will potentially see three candidates battling for office: Anies Baswedan, Ganjar Pranowo, and Prabowo Subianto. Since declaring their presidential bids, the three candidates have talked about various issues, ranging from improving education, boosting employment, healthcare, ...

China Looms Large At This Week’s ASEAN Summit

Senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are gathering in the remote Indonesian town of Labuan Bajo for the 42nd ASEAN summit taking place this week.  The summit comes as ASEAN is trying to recover from the economic disruption ...

Philippines Summons Chinese Ambassador Over Laser Incident at Sea

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos summoned China's ambassador to express his "serious concern" over Monday's alleged use of a military grade laser by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel against nearby Philippines ships in the South China Sea. In Washington, U.S. State Department ...

Chinese PM Li Heads Home From Cambodia After Another Round of Diplomatic Speed Dating

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang wrapped up a six-day visit to Cambodia on Sunday at the conclusion of a pair of regional summits where he also held a number of sideline bilaterals with both Asian and Pacific leaders: ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

China-Led Study Proposes Global Energy Network

A globally connected network of solar and wind energy could provide three times the global energy demand by 2050 at a lower cost than independent national power systems. This is the finding of a study led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with researchers from the United States and Denmark.

The study focused on how areas with high solar and wind capacity (such as deserts) can be linked to ...

China’s Global Trade Started Strong in 2022 But the Outlook Looks Grim

Powered by a new Asian regional free trade deal and new rail links with its Southeast Asian neighbors, China clocked an impressive 10.7% increase in first-quarter global trade compared to the same time last year, according to new Chinese customs data. Southeast ...

It Was ASEAN’s Turn For China’s Fast-paced “Speed Dating” Diplomacy

Right after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi returned from his annual trip to Africa in early January he decamped from Beijing to set up shop temporarily in the small eastern city of Tunxi, 400km outside of Shanghai.  By ...

BRI Scholar Reflects on U.S.-China Competition For Influence in ASEAN and the Critical Role of Railways

The new $6 billion, 1,000-kilometer China-Laos railway that opened a couple of weeks ago is widely seen as the most visible evidence of Beijing's push to expand its presence in Southeast Asia. The railway's debut came just before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the region ...

The Key Takeaway From Wang Yi’s Week-Long Asia Tour: It’s Not Easy Balancing Ties Between China and the U.S.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wrapped up a week-long four-nation Asian tour on Wednesday in Seoul where he met with his Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong. Wang also visited Vietnam, Cambodia, and Singapore on a trip that was expressly intended to bolster China's ties in a region that both ...