While it seems that the port call of the USS Ronald Reagan in Vietnam recently signals a reinvigoration of US-Vietnam military cooperation, Vietnam will be circumspect in ensuring that it does not let the US interfere in its domestic affairs or jeopardise its relationship with China.
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Politics
Chinese academic Peng Nian looks at the US expanding its access to new military bases in the Philippines, which China is particularly concerned with. He says that while the Philippines want to find a sweet spot in navigating China-US competition, it must be extra vigilant in dealing with security cooperation with the US in the South China Sea so as not to aggravate China-Philippines relations.
Politics
Researcher Peng Nian notes that China’s efforts to strengthen its relations with ASEAN through building a “community with a shared future for mankind” could ramp up as its borders reopen. While it may take time for the ASEAN member states to open their arms again to China, progress is far from being at a standstill.
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As an increasing number of Chinese enterprises venture overseas and the BRI project continues its expansion, Peng Nian notes the rise in attacks targeted against these projects. He says much can be done to strengthen the safety awareness of Chinese enterprises, especially as many of them operate in unfamiliar or far-flung locations.
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Since the military coup in Myanmar in February, China has been criticised by the West for not taking a strong stand against the situation. Chinese researcher Peng Nian explains China's difficult position and its hope for ASEAN to successfully mitigate the problem. What China can do now is to assist Myanmar with the fight against the pandemic, he says.
Politics
From bilateral and multilateral diplomatic situations, to international economic organisations and non-economic organisations, the competition between China and the US has intensified in a different way during the pandemic, as new battlegrounds for influence are created. Chinese researcher Peng Nian presents the possible areas that the US and China might continue to clash, even after the pandemic eases.
Politics
Chinese researcher Peng Nian, from the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in China, considers whether China is really eager to revive a master-subordinate relationship with its former tributary states.