Power Play
Asean unity fraying in the Sino-US tug of war
Despite China's courtship, misgivings persist. Beijing's stance on Russia's war on Ukraine is likely to heighten anxieties in South-east Asia. •Power Play is a weekly column that looks at various facets of US-China rivalry and its implications for Asia.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Over the past two years, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has made three tours of South-east Asia, where he visited all 10 Asean countries. On each, he came with offers of vaccines, economic aid and investments to a pandemic-battered region.
When Asean and China commemorated 30 years of dialogue relations last November, China's largesse was also on display - in addition to vaccines there was a pledge to buy up to US$150 billion (S$203 billion) worth of farm products from Asean over the next five years. "China was, is, and will always be Asean's good neighbour, good friend and good partner," said President Xi Jinping then.
