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China, US Vie for Sympathy Among Wary Southeast Asian Leaders

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations, the
   United States and China are taking part in discussions this week on
   topics ranging from maritime sovereignty to post-COVID economic
   recovery that Asia scholars say will test the resolve of both the
   United States and China.

   China and the United States have assigned officials to the
   videoconference events Wednesday through Friday, with Secretary of
   State Michael Pompeo representing Washington at a ministerial meeting
   held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) negotiating
   bloc. Chinese officials are due to appear at other foreign
   minister-level events this week.

   Ten foreign ministers from the 650 million-population Southeast Asian
   region, which is of growing economic and political importance to both
   powers, will largely welcome strong U.S. political or military support
   against threats from China-- but at the same time look more to China
   for economic aid including post-pandemic recovery, analysts believe.

   "I think Southeast Asia will look to get a better sense of whether they
   can trust Washington's commitment to prioritizing their region and what
   they can actually count on the U.S. for, and not, when contending with
   China," said Derek Grossman, senior analyst with the Rand Corp.
   research institution in the United States.

   Southeast Asian ministers are waiting for more substance on Pompeo's
   statements in July that the U.S. government would defend countries
   pressured by China over maritime sovereignty disputes, the scholars
   say.

   Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines-- all militarily weaker
   than China -- resent Beijing for letting Chinese ships pass through
   areas they claim in the disputed South China Sea.

   Last month, the U.S. Department of Commerce ordered sanctions against
   24 Chinese companies that have helped China build islets in the sea.

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