While the United States presses its commercial partners to reduce relations with China, Beijing reminder The neighbors in Southeast Asia said that the provision of Washington’s bids will come at a cost.

On Monday, Beijing said it “opposes the firmness of any party that reaches a deal [with the U.S.] At the expense of China’s interest, “he threatened revenge in the event that the country tried to sacrifice trade with China.

China’s warning comes after a week -long visit from President Xi Jinping to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, against the background Global trade uncertainty It is emitted from the White House.

“The journey of Xi was” reassurance and warning. ” It suggests that the trip was a reminder of Southeast Asian economies that China wants to see it as an official and open representative to participate with neighbors in trade.

China is trying to “remind Asia that there is always an alternative [to the U.S.]China Yue, an economist in Singapore in Oxford Economic, says, adding that Southeast Asian economies want to be able to reach the large market in China.

Alfred Woo, associate professor at Lee Quan Yu College for Public Policy at Singapore National University at the University of Singapore, says the Chinese economic uncertainty and policy Trump can allow Beijing to promote the “Asia Moment” where the dominant world order moves to Asia.

For years, Beijing tried to present itself as an alternative to the United States, especially to the neighboring Southeast Asia, a major commercial partner. Over the past two years, they use this [ideas] “To confront the dominant world order,” Wu says, noting that China has increased in these ideas since 2022.

Southeast Asia in the center

Southeast Asia’s economies such as Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia have benefited from the diversification of the supply chain, as companies adopted the strategy “China Plus”. This helped enhance their exports, especially for the United States

Some of these support came from China. Natixis notes that the northern region of Vietnam has benefited from Chinese investment in infrastructure and manufacturing.

After the increasing exports, Trump led to to threaten A higher tariff for these countries, including a 46 % tariff in Vietnam. The White House tariff accounts indicate that the purpose of “Liberation Day” is to push the American trade deficit to scratch.

The United States has suspended the implementation of these definitions for a period of 90 days, which led to a stampede between Southeast Asian countries to negotiate a kind of deal. Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore participate with the Trump administration.

According to what was reported, the United States presses commercial partners to separate it with China, which indicates that countries control trade with the second largest economy in the world as a condition for open trade free from customs tariffs with the United States

Vietnam is also It is said that it is presented To examine the trade received from China as part of a deal with the United States

China has signed many agreements and Mousa with Southeast Asian partners during Shi’s visit. While there are few concrete details of these advertisements, Yue, from Oxford Economics, believes that these agreements allow the economies of Southeast Asia to continue to reconcile the two largest economies in the world.

“Southeast Asian countries” still want to reach the China market, and they also want Chia’s investments ready to provide them. “But they also have to make sure that they are not considered very friendly with China because that will hold their negotiations with the United States.

Many Southeast Asian countries say it wants to remain neutral between Washington and Beijing. And running in China, the largest commercial partner in the region, can have severe consequences.

China still provides many inputs used in the manufacture of Southeast Asia, which in turn is exported all over the world.

The country is also one of the largest sources of tourists for countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Beijing is likely to inhibit its citizens from traveling to those countries, thus hitting the tourism sectors of each of them, which happened before.

In 2017, China prevents a travel group to South Korea in response to the American publication of the Missley Control System. The ban had an immediate effect on travel, with tourist numbers from China drop About 20 %. It took it until 2023 for Beijing to lift the ban.

This story was originally shown on Fortune.com

https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/GettyImages-2209950113-e1745305342748.jpg?resize=1200,600
2025-04-22 08:20:00