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Southeast Asia’s anxiety and disillusionment with US and China deepen: poll by Singapore think tank
- Over 50 per cent of respondents to the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak institute’s annual survey see Beijing as the region’s most influential power – and most are worried
- Meanwhile, 47 per cent have little to no confidence in Washington as a reliable strategic partner and provider of regional security
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Dewey Simin Beijing
Southeast Asian countries are grappling with the ongoing conundrum of anxiety about China’s rise and disillusionment over the reliability of the United States, with a recent poll revealing such sentiments have deepened in the past year.
More than half of respondents to the annual survey conducted by Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, published on Thursday, saw China as wielding the most political and strategic influence in Southeast Asia – with more than eight in 10 of that group saying it worried them.
Of the poll’s 1,308 respondents, 27 per cent said the US was the most influential, though more than half of those in this group said this was welcome.
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Those who thought China had the most influence increased from 45.2 per cent last year, while those who gave the US the nod dropped from 30.5 per cent in 2019.
But when asked in a separate question if the US was a reliable strategic partner and provider of regional security, 47 per cent of respondents overall said they had little to no confidence in Washington, up from 34.6 per cent in last year’s survey.
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It was only in the Philippines – an American defence treaty partner – and Vietnam, which has been vocal against growing Chinese influence, where more than half of respondents expressed confidence in the US.
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