Asean survey reflects China’s growing strategic influence but also concerns. The question is: will China crowd the US out of the region?
But Asean seems to have been aware of this from the start.
On March 4, while the US and Israel carried out missile and air strikes against Iran, the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued a statement. It expressed “serious concern over the escalation of conflict in the Middle East following the attacks initiated by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran on 28 February 2026 and the subsequent retaliatory attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against several countries in the region”.
This balanced, factually accurate approach shows Asean did not intend to side with Washington despite some members being US treaty allies.
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Source: News - South China Morning Post
