Chinese Communist Party Foreign Minister Wang Yi wrapped up a series of meetings with Southeast Asian leaders, the second round of talks between the Communist Party’s foreign minister and Southeast Asian leaders so far this year, discussing topics such as vaccine distribution, helping those countries recover after the outbreak and other topics. Experts say these topics could bring countries in the key region closer to China and gradually away from the growing influence of the United States.
Wang Yi met with the foreign ministers of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines in the Communist Party last week, according to Xinhua, the official Chinese media. Xinhua quoted him as saying that “the CCP stands for the interests of many developing countries and small and medium-sized countries.” The countries Wang Yi mentioned include most of the 605.5 million people in the 10 Southeast Asian countries.
In January, the Chinese Communist Party foreign minister visited Brunei, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines before U.S. President Joe Biden took office. China pledged at the time to help Southeast Asian countries with the COVID-19 vaccine, infrastructure and trade.
Analysts say the Chinese Communist Party hopes to play a role in parts of Asia again. The U.S. has taken a string of actions intended to rein in the Communist Party’s expansion in the disputed waters of four Southeast Asian countries. Most governments in the region do not choose sides between the two superpowers. In addition, countries along the Mekong River are unhappy with the Communist Party’s control of the river’s upper dams.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi is trying to send the strongest signal that the CCP is still a partner within the region,” said Stephen Nagy, a senior associate professor at the Institute of Politics and International Studies at International Christian University in Tokyo. They are indeed trying to send a strong signal that Southeast Asian countries should listen to Beijing first and then to Washington.”
This battle for allies has already begun, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meeting with their Japanese counterparts in Tokyo last month to reaffirm the partnership. A few days later, Blinken and Austin met with South Korea’s foreign and defense ministers.
U.S. officials said they sent Navy ships to the South China Sea 10 times last year and added at least one B-52 bomber cruise as a sign that the disputed waterway remains open to the international community and not under the exclusive control of the Chinese Communist Party.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam dispute Beijing’s claim to about 90 percent of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea, which is rich in natural resources. The Chinese Communist Party has the most powerful armed forces among the six claimants, prompting the others to seek support from the United States.
Wang Yi told his Singaporean counterpart last week that the two countries should work together to oppose “vaccine nationalism. Xinhua reported. The term describes a government that strikes deals with pharmaceutical companies to protect its own population at the expense of other countries. China has shipped Sinovac vaccines produced by the Chinese Communist Party to Indonesia and the Philippines.
Experts say Southeast Asian economies, which slumped last year due to a lack of demand for tourism and exports, are hoping for a boost from China.
Washington has provided COVID-19 relief assistance to Southeast Asia, including $18.3 million in emergency health and humanitarian aid for the first quarter of 2020. But the U.S. government lacks funding comparable to China’s trillion-dollar-plus Belt and Road Initiative. The purpose of these grants is to build transportation infrastructure in the linked Eurasian region in 2027. The foreign ministers of some of the countries involved in the Belt and Road project went to meet with Wang last week.
Wang Yi told Malaysia’s foreign minister last week that the Communist Party would provide “high-quality” Belt and Road cooperation that would bring more “tangible benefits” during the recovery period, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry website.
Alan Chong, an associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said, “The Chinese Communist Party only needs to implement Belt and Road projects in all of these countries to avoid a downturn in their economies. That would be enough to avoid an economic downturn in these countries.”
“Last year the Chinese market stood alone and was not harmed,” Chong added. Most of the world’s economies have been hit by businesses closing down in the fight against the epidemic.
Zhang Jiasong said Southeast Asian countries will be more likely to seek help from the Communist Party of China, rather than the United States, in their relations with Myanmar after the coup and protests that erupted in February. Wang Yi told Singapore’s foreign minister that the Communist Party supports broader engagement in Southeast Asia to “restore stability in Myanmar,” according to a Xinhua report. The Chinese Communist Party’s business interests in Myanmar date back decades.
Southeast Asian officials also want the Communist Party to reopen tourism, including to students, said Shahriman Lockman, senior analyst for foreign policy and security studies at the Malaysian Institute of Strategic and International Studies.
Malaysia and the Philippines may have raised the South China Sea issue with Wang Yi last week, Lockman said, “because it’s one of those things you have to bring up.”
He said, “The foreign ministry is divided to show a gesture. If you don’t bring it up, he’ll think you don’t care about it and they can get away with it, so you have to say ‘Oh, right.'”
Zhang said that the Chinese foreign minister may have “softened” any past actions that made the Communist Party look like a “strong country.
Recent Comments