ASEAN-China

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke to CCTV on 24 March. This photo shows PM Lee at the PN-UPI Linkage Virtual Launch, 21 February 2023. (Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore)

Lee Hsien Loong: The world cannot afford a conflict between China and the US

In an interview on CCTV-13’s “Leaders Talk”《高端访谈》programme first broadcast on 24 March, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke about trust and mutual understanding in longstanding Singapore-China bilateral relations, and expressed the hope that both countries would take this forward in areas such as the Belt and Road Initiative, China-ASEAN relations, China's rise and US-China relations. The following are edited excerpts of the full transcript of the interview issued by Singapore's Prime Minister’s Office.
Attendees take their positions for a photograph with journalists during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Jakarta on 4 February 2023. (Bay Ismoyo/AFP)

State of Southeast Asia Survey 2023: Separate tangos with China and the US

If ASEAN can’t tango with China or the US, who else? Pragmatic as always, ASEAN’s favourite choices for hedging partners remain the EU and Japan but attention appears to have also fallen on India as its third choice this year.
Chinese RMB banknotes are seen behind an illuminated stock graph in this illustration taken on 10 February 2020. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/Reuters)

What’s in store for RMB internationalisation in 2023?

The RMB is now one of the most actively traded currencies in the world and is set to gain further traction globally this year, as the People’s Bank of China implements the government’s strategy to boost the currency’s use overseas, challenging the dominance of the US dollar in the long term.
Passengers from China's Xiamen arrive at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport after China reopens its borders amid the Covid-19 pandemic, in Bangkok, Thailand, 9 January 2023. (Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

How China and ASEAN could help each other transition to the new normal

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.
Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Lim Jock Hoi pose for pictures before a meeting with Southeast Asian foreign ministers at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, 27 October 2022. (Galih Pradipta/Pool via Reuters)

George Yeo: ASEAN’s advantage in an emerging multipolar world

Delivering the keynote address of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s Regional Outlook Forum 2023, Singapore’s former Foreign Minister George Yeo spoke about the ways that ASEAN’s weakness is also a strength in the transition to a multipolar world.
Demonstrators hold placards with pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi as they protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, 22 February 2021. (Stringer/File Photo/Reuters)

What do the official Chinese media’s mixed messages on the Myanmar coup mean?

China’s willingness to side with the Myanmar military and the SAC regime has been evident since the immediate aftermath of the February 2021 coup, despite its apparently mixed messages, say researchers Su Mon Thazin Aung and Nan Lwin. Through its state media, China has in fact consistently transmitted messages largely in favour of the military takeover of its smaller neighbour and sought to pin anti-Chinese sentiment in Myanmar on the West's moves.
US President Joe Biden participates in the US-ASEAN Special Summit at the US State Department in Washington, DC, US, on 13 May 2022. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

Finland and Sweden today, Southeast Asia tomorrow?

With Finland and Sweden applying to join NATO, some in Asia are asking if Southeast Asian countries will follow suit and seek an alliance with “like-minded” powers. Malaysian academics Kuik Cheng-Chwee, Abdul Razak Ahmad and Lai Yew Meng explain why such realignment is unlikely in Asia (for now).
US President Joe Biden speaks at the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, DC, on 10 May 2022. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP)

What to expect from the US-ASEAN Summit in Washington

ASEAN leaders will finally meet US President Joe Biden at the long-awaited US-ASEAN summit in Washington. Whether ASEAN and US can find convergence on regional issues, such as Washington’s desire to manage the rise of China, will be a pressing challenge.
A man walks along a street in the central business district in Beijing, China, on 18 April 2022. (Wang Zhao/AFP)

China’s unified national market will benefit ASEAN in the long run

The authorities are taking steps to solve the issue of the Chinese market being “big but not strong” by standardising rules and standards and unifying the national market. But local governments used to fighting for their region’s interest at the expense of the national interest may find the changes hard to swallow.