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Diplomacy
OpinionComment
Wang Huiyao
Wang Huiyao

Opinion | As US-China rivalry intensifies, Beijing must deploy more than economic muscle in Asia

  • Countries that economically or militarily depend on both powers are in increasingly difficult positions
  • China can better pursue its interests with these countries by increasing face-to-face interactions and strengthening human relations

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Wang Huiyao
As great power rivalry intensifies in the wake of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Asian countries that look to China for prosperity and the United States for security face an increasingly difficult task in navigating tensions between the two sides.
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Perhaps no country better illustrates this than South Korea. China provides almost 30 per cent of South Korea’s material parts imports and absorbs nearly a quarter of its exports – more than the US and Japan combined. At the same time, South Korea relies on the US security umbrella to counter the threat from North Korea and is home to around 30,000 US troops.
Seoul now faces tough choices that will affect its relations with the US and China. These include whether to deploy the US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system and whether to join US President Joe Biden’s Chip 4 alliance.

More Asian countries will be caught in this kind of bind as the rivalry between China and the US unfolds. But despite growing pressure at home and abroad, policymakers in Seoul and other Asian capitals oppose being forced into binary choices. They are striving for a third way that preserves a degree of neutrality and allows for continued cooperation with both powers.

This was the key takeaway from our recent visits to Seoul and Singapore, the Asia leg of a global engagement tour by the Centre for China and Globalisation that also included stops in Berlin, Brussels, New York, Paris and Washington.

02:17

US and South Korea strengthen military ties after North Korea's latest missile tests

US and South Korea strengthen military ties after North Korea's latest missile tests

In Singapore and South Korea, we met scholars, business leaders and diplomats to take the temperature of local politics and share views on global issues. These visits also went some way towards reviving in-person interactions with Asian countries after a two-year hiatus.

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