Opinion | Is Donald Trump’s administration ceding Southeast Asia to an ever-aggressive China?
- Jun Yan Chang writes that despite the US president’s Asean snub, Southeast Asian countries want to keep the US engaged as a means to counter China's assertive strategic moves in the region
In the recently concluded 7th Asean-US Summit in Bangkok, it was widely reported that only the Thai, Laotian and Vietnamese heads of state showed up.
The former was the chair of Asean (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the latter is taking over as Asean chair and Laos is the current coordinator for Asean-US relations; hence, the absolute minimum participation. The seven other Asean heads of state simply sent representatives.
This is a rebuke to the US, owing to President Donald Trump’s decision not to attend the Asean meetings but instead send his new national security adviser Robert O’Brien and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
As one diplomat reportedly said: “It’s not appropriate for Asean to send leaders when the US representation is not on parity”, though another diplomat stated that “It’s not a boycott, it’s just that other leaders have other meetings to attend to”.
These words showed aptly the diplomatic manoeuvrings that are the Asean meetings.
The question remains: is the Trump administration’s latest Asean snub an indication that the US is withdrawing from the region and giving up Southeast Asia to China?