Signs with the US flag and the Chinese flag are seen outside a store selling foreign goods in Qingdao, Shandong Province in eastern China, on September 19, 2018.
AFP | Getty Images
SINGAPORE – Southeast Asian support for the US appears to be growing after Joe Biden won the presidential election, according to an annual poll conducted by Singapore think tank ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute.
A survey published last week on the Southeast Asian state found that 61.5% of respondents are in favor of aligning with the US on China if the region were forced to choose the parties. This is an increase from 53.6% who chose the US over China in the same poll a year ago.
“Support for the region for Washington may have increased as a result of the prospects of the new Biden administration,” the report said.
The answers to the latest poll were collected from November 18 last year to January 10 this year – after Biden was supposed to defeat Donald Trump in the election, but before he was inaugurated as president.
The survey involved more than 1,000 respondents from all 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN. Respondents include government officials, business people, as well as academic analysts, think tanks and research institutions.
Comparing the data at the country level, the majority of respondents from seven Southeast Asian countries chose the US over China in the last survey. This is an increase from three in the previous edition, with Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand changing parts.
Despite this, the largest proportion of survey respondents chose China – instead of the US, ASEAN and others – as the most influential power in Southeast Asia.
About 76.3% of respondents chose China as the most influential economic power, while 49.1% chose China as the most influential political and strategic power.
The significance of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia has been caught in the middle of US-China competition in recent years.
The region is home to over 650 million people and some of the fastest growing economies in the world. The proximity of the South China Sea – a vital trade route through which billions of dollars of world trade pass – adds to its strategic importance.
The USA has for many years been an important presence in the region both in terms of security and economic commitments. But during Trump’s tenure, the United States withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership – a mega-trade pact that included several Southeast Asian countries – and U.S. government officials were absent, especially at several major regional meetings. .
This apparent lack of interest from the US over the past few years has coincided with China’s more aggressive push into the region through programs that include infrastructure investments under the Belt and Road Initiative.
But the latest ISEAS poll found that the majority of respondents – around 68.6% – were optimistic that the US under Biden would increase its engagement in Southeast Asia. The survey showed that compared to a year ago, when 77% believed that the US commitment would decrease.
The region’s confidence in the US also rose from 30.3% a year ago to 48.3% in the last survey.
“Only time will tell whether or not the region’s renewed confidence in the United States is shifted,” the report said.
Early signs showed that the Biden administration would focus more on the region in the coming years.
The president has strengthened his foreign policy team with experts in Asia, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken – in a call with his Philippine counterpart – has pledged to “support” Southeast Asian countries against pressure Chinese in the South China Sea.