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ASEAN populace has not learned to fully trust China: Survey
While the people of ASEAN clearly acknowledge the economic benefits of ASEAN-China cooperation, they are less trustworthy of Beijing when it comes to security matters, a recent survey has found.
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China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (center on screen) addresses counterparts from ASEAN countries in a live video conference during the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting held online due to the COVID-19 on Sept. 9, 2021. (AFP/Nhac Nguyen)
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majority of the ASEAN populace feels satisfied with the economic benefits brought by cooperating with China but still feels “anxious” and “distrustful” about Beijing’s political and security policies, a survey by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) found on Monday.
The distrust, stemming from China’s perceived lack of commitment to abide by international law, has resulted in a “paradoxical” relationship between the rising superpower and ASEAN, experts explained. The onus is on Beijing, they said, to remedy this skepticism if it wishes to expand its influence in the future.
Over 1,600 respondents from 10 Southeast Asian countries participated in the survey. While students made up more than half of the respondents, “elite” voices were also represented by academia, the business community and civil society groups, analysts said. The responses, while mixed in some aspects, reflected an overarching tone of anxiety and wariness.
The survey found that 68.69 percent of all respondents believed that trade with Beijing was “the most satisfactory area of cooperation”, while defense was ranked first in the category of the “least satisfactory” aspect of China-ASEAN collaboration.
Compared with the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), an overwhelming majority of participants also stated that Chinese programs – the Belt and Road, Global Development and Global Security initiatives – had made “more contributions for ASEAN”.
“This is the paradox of the ASEAN-China relationship. On one hand, we welcome and relish our close economic [ties]. But there is also an apprehension when it comes to security,” said Renato Cruz de Casto, professor at Manila’s international studies department at La Salle University.
