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Asean
OpinionComment
Riaz Khokhar
Riaz Khokhar

Opinion | As China builds military ties across Southeast Asia, one factor stands in the way

  • China’s strong economic ties with the region and an unfocused Asean favour the expansion of the Chinese defence network
  • But its disregard of the 2016 South China Sea ruling will make it hard for its smaller neighbours to completely trust it

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
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Cambodian and Chinese soldiers during the Golden Dragon military exercise at the Royal Gendarmerie Training Centre in Cambodia, on March 24. China’s defence relationship with Cambodia is the strongest in Southeast Asia. Photo: Xinhua
Riaz Khokhar
Last month, China and Singapore held maritime exercises aimed at enhancing their mine-sweeping abilities and maintaining security in the Malacca Strait. These drills were also intended to strengthen trust and cooperation between the two countries.
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China has also conducted military drills with Cambodia, featuring activities such as mine clearance, explosive removal and blockades, as well as naval manoeuvres. These drills were designed to improve the capabilities of both countries and display China’s power in the South China Sea.

Beijing’s stronger economic and diplomatic influence in Southeast Asia has allowed it to develop defence networks to counterbalance the United States’ military reach and check neighbouring countries’ embrace of the American security campaign against China.

According to the Lowy Institute’s 2023 Asia power index, China’s defence relationship with Cambodia is the strongest (at 69 points) in Southeast Asia, while those with the Philippines (12 points), Thailand (21 points) and Singapore (23 points) are the weakest due to their US alliances. China and the US are in tight competition for military influence in other countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar.

China’s Global Security Initiative, launched last February, aims to maintain security, sovereignty and territorial integrity through dialogue while supporting security cooperation that centres the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and opposing nuclear war. So far, in Southeast Asia, the initiative has been supported by Brunei, Cambodia and Laos.
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To expand support, China has increased its military profile in Malaysia with a defence dialogue and the sale of arms, including littoral mission ships. China also held more defence dialogues with Vietnam in 2021 than the US did. And in just five years, China has expanded its defence ties with Indonesia by 14 points on the Lowy index to reach 45 points.

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