US-China tensions: Asean playbook shows how small states can navigate big power rivalry

On December 30, one day before Indonesia’s Asean chairmanship lapsed, the region’s foreign ministers issued a statement articulating their “concern” over “recent developments in the South China Sea that may undermine peace, security, and stability in the region”.

Countries can take a leaf out of Asean’s playbook. Despite its economic intertwinement with and proximity to China, and strategic and military ties with the United States, Southeast Asia has carved its own path. Through shrewd balancing, hedging and consolidation, Southeast Asian nations show that small and medium-sized powers deserve a seat at the table.

First, Asean states are adept practitioners of dynamic balancing. They not only position themselves as uniquely useful and open to collaboration with both Beijing and Washington but also ensure the region remains neutral with no overarching tilt.

The former manifests best in the pro-trade courting of foreign investment from both the US private sector and China’s state-owned and private enterprises.

As Indonesian President Joko Widodo declared while presiding over the 2022 G20 summit, as he firmly pushed back against sharpening rivalries, Asean will not be “a proxy to any power”.

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US, Japan and Philippines hold first joint coastguard exercise in the South China Sea

Second, as Professor Kuik Cheng-Chwee at the National University of Malaysia put it, Asean “hedges between feasibility and desirability”. These states seek to minimise unhelpful uncertainty and diversify strategically in their dealings with all major powers.

Internationally, the region has looked beyond China and the US for alternative partners.

With Malaysia and Indonesia sharing a strong religious connection with the Gulf states, they are well