After Biden entered the White House, he continued his predecessor Trump's policy of suppressing China, while forcing some countries to choose sides between China and the United States. Biden naively believes that with the national strength and influence of the United States, he is not afraid that other countries will not give in and will not follow the United States to confront China. However, a recent report released by a Singaporean think tank slapped Biden in the face. The report, titled "State of Southeast Asia Report: 2024", shows that if Southeast Asian countries are forced to choose sides between China and the United States, more Southeast Asian countries will choose to side with China. Such a result is more or less surprising to some people, because the Singaporean think tank has released similar reports for six consecutive years, and in the past few years, more Southeast Asian countries have still leaned towards the United States.
And this year, for the first time, China has surpassed the United States. More than half of the people interviewed said that at present, the relations between Southeast Asian countries and China are generally improving, but their confidence and trust in the United States have declined significantly. According to the data, nearly 60% of respondents believe that China's influence in Southeast Asia is the greatest, and China ranks first in both political and economic aspects. Less than 15 percent of all respondents said the U.S. had the most influence in Southeast Asia. Respondents from seven Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, said they supported their country on China's side, while only three countries chose the United States: the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar.
In addition, the majority of Southeast Asian countries remain quite optimistic about their relationship with China, especially in Indonesia, Laos and Malaysia, which believe that their country's relationship with China will remain stable in the coming years. At the same time, the report also shows that many of China's initiatives have been widely recognized by the people of Southeast Asian countries. For example, China advocates the construction of a "community with a shared future for mankind", and 30% of the respondents believe that this concept is consistent with ASEAN's development concept and can bring positive benefits to the development of their country and ASEAN. On the contrary, some of the things proposed by the United States, such as the so-called "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework", have been questioned by many.
Last year's report showed that more than 46 percent of respondents gave the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework a positive rating, but this year, the approval rating has slipped to 40 percent, a drop of 6 percentage points. More than three-tenths of those surveyed said they were no longer interested in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. In fact, this data is completely expected, Biden's "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" is essentially to curb the momentum of China's rise through economic and trade means, but this strategy, invisibly, will affect Southeast Asian countries, because the current economic and trade relations between Southeast Asian countries and China are too close, and it is no exaggeration to say that it has reached the point of "you have me, I have you".
At present, China and ASEAN are each other's largest trading partners, and in this context, Biden's "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" is destined to fail to take root in Southeast Asia, nor is it likely to be echoed by Southeast Asian countries. The loss of power in Southeast Asia by the United States has also sounded the alarm for Biden, forcing other countries to choose sides, not only failing to achieve the goal of letting these countries follow him, but may push these countries to competitors.