May 26, 2025
NewStraitsTimes

Phar Kim Beng, Kuala Lumpur

AS the global landscape fractures into hostile camps, marked by trade wars, proxy conflicts and technological decoupling, the search for neutral, pragmatic and strategic platforms intensifies.

For two rising poles of influence — the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and China — that search increasingly leads to one place: Asean.

This pivot towards Southeast Asia is not cosmetic. It reflects a deeper recalibration of international diplomacy and commerce, where Asean’s blend of neutrality, strategic centrality and economic vitality makes it an indispensable hub in a divided world.

At a time when international summits are increasingly weaponised by ideological battles, Asean stands out for its non-confrontational ethos. Its foundational principle of non-interference, combined with a consensus-based decision-making culture, makes it a rare platform where states from vastly different systems — democratic, authoritarian, capitalist and socialist — can meet without fear of censure.

For the GCC, whose ties with the West often oscillate between strategic alignment and normative friction, Asean provides a respectful and non-judgmental setting.

China, too, finds in Asean an interlocutor that does not invoke ideological rivalry or historical baggage.In contrast to the tension-prone Indo-Pacific forums dominated by United States allies, Asean offers a corridor of calm engagement.

This diplomatic neutrality allows Asean to act as a convener, a bridge-builder, and increasingly, a rule-shaper in forums like the East Asia Summit and the Asean Regional Forum.

For the GCC and China, these qualities make Asean not just attractive, but essential.

Beyond diplomacy, Asean serves a vital role in connecting the economic strengths of the GCC and China. The Gulf states are energy giants seeking diversified, high-growth markets.

Asean countries, especially Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, represent dynamic economies with growing demand for oil, gas and petrochemical products.

At the same time, Gulf sovereign wealth funds have begun viewing Asean as a strategic hedge: investing in halal food supply chains, Islamic finance, tourism infrastructure and tech startups.

Meanwhile, China sees Asean as the linchpin of its Belt and Road Initiative, particularly its maritime dimension. Ports, railways and highways from Malaysia to Laos to Indonesia are being reimagined as arteries of Chinese connectivity, enabling a flow of goods and influence from East Asia to the Middle East and Africa.

Asean’s geographic centrality — between the Indian and Pacific Oceans and anchoring key maritime chokepoints — makes it more than a transit point. It is the convergence zone for two of the most ambitious economic strategies of the 21st century.

What further deepens the engagement is the civilisational comfort both the GCC and China feel in dealing with Asean.

For the Gulf, Asean is home to the world’s largest Muslim population, with Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, southern Thailand and the Philippines offering religious and cultural commonality.

Rather than rivalry, there is cooperation in Islamic finance, halal certification and religious education. Gulf states see Asean as a partner in promoting a moderate and modern narrative of Islam.

China, though officially secular, approaches Asean with a cultural diplomacy rooted in Confucian ideals of harmony, respect and relational governance.

It promotes people-to-people exchanges, scholarships and Confucius institutes as soft pathways of affinity.

In contrast to its more adversarial relationships with India, Japan or Australia, China sees Asean as a region with shared developmental goals and manageable historical sensitivities.

Perhaps the most profound reason for the GCC’s and China’s preference for Asean is that it demonstrates how a non-Western model of multilateralism can function effectively.

Forums like Asean+3, the East Asia Summit and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership are not framed by Western ideologies or power asymmetries. Instead, they reflect a logic of mutual respect, gradualism and functional cooperation. No lectures, no sanctions and no strings attached.

For the GCC and China, who have grown increasingly disillusioned with Western-dominated institutions like the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and even the United Nations Security Council, Asean-led platforms offer both legitimacy and flexibility.

They are not about replacing the West, but creating parallel systems that better reflect the interests of the Global South.

Asean in its quiet pragmatism has become a super-connector — a diplomatic and economic axis that binds East Asia, the Gulf and the wider Indo-Pacific.

* Phar Kim Beng is professor of Asean Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia.