Asean and India unlikely to pressure Beijing over Hong Kong national security law: experts

Most Southeast Asian governments see Beijing’s position on Hong Kong as part of its internal affairs, the analysts say

While India has stayed silent, escalating tensions over its border disputes with China may push it to make a statement

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Riot police detain a group of people in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong on May 27, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:38pm, 29 May 2020Updated: 3:00pm, 29 May 2020

While the United States has tapped its allies to voice their disapproval against China’s move to impose a national security law on Hong Kong, most Asean governments and India are unlikely to take similar positions even if they have concerns about the city’s autonomy.

The five analysts and foreign policy experts This Week in Asia spoke to said most governments saw Beijing’s position on Hong Kong as part of its internal affairs.

Joseph Liow Chin Yong, an expert on Asia-Pacific geopolitics at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said: “Asean is not likely to follow Washington’s template for responding to developments in Hong Kong.”

Dylan Loh, an assistant professor of public policy and global affairs at NTU said none of the countries in the 10-member Asean bloc had the “economic and political wherewithal nor the desire to irritate China over the Hong Kong issue”.

Even if there were any genuine concerns, Loh said individual countries were likely to err on the side of caution and show support in the form of “generic statements of concern about the stability and safety of Hong Kong society”.

Topmost on the minds of Asean countries would be how to navigate increasingly fraught US-China tensions, Loh added.

“They will be more concerned about Washington’s actions and the subsequent reactions from Beijing, rather than the national security law for Hong Kong,” he said.

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