TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsASEAN leans toward China as Trump worries mount, ISEAS survey finds
Indonesian respondents overwhelmingly indicated a preference for China over the US at 80 percent amid a corresponding regional shift, with the majority of all respondents citing Trump's leadership and Washington's use of sanctions as top concerns.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
United States President Donald Trump (left) shares a close moment with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Oct. 30, 2025, after their talks at Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea. (AFP/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
A
narrow majority of ASEAN respondents would prefer aligning with China over the United States, a new survey has found, driven in part by concerns over President Donald Trump’s leadership and Washington’s stance on international law.
Conducted over six weeks from January to February, The State of Southeast Asia: 2026 Survey Report by Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute surveyed respondents across the region, including Timor-Leste, on issues ranging from superpower rivalry and regional security to climate change and human rights.
A total of 2,008 respondents from academia, civil society, business, government and the media took part in the survey.
Among its key findings was a reversal from last year’s 52.3 percent preference for the US, with 52 percent of respondents now opting for China when given a hypothetical choice between the two strategic rivals.
China’s favorability was particularly strong among Indonesian respondents at around 80 percent, followed by respondents in Malaysia, Singapore and Timor-Leste.
Meanwhile, respondents in countries including the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam continued to favor Washington over Beijing, a divide the survey attributed largely to differing levels of economic dependence on the two superpowers.
Read also: ASEAN opens talks under South China Sea shadows
