ARTICLES

16 Jul 2025

Rubio’s Reassurances to ASEAN Ring Hollow

Joanne Lin

US Secretary of State came to Malaysia with well-crafted words about the importance of ASEAN, but his rhetoric is undermined by Washington’s protectionist trade policies.

14 Jul 2025

Myanmar’s Opposition to Timor-Leste’s ASEAN Membership

Max Lane

ASEAN faces an intriguing test of its own decision-making procedures, as consensus might be elusive given the apparent obstruction of one member to the full accession of its eleventh member.

ASEAN Myanmar Timor-Leste

11 Jul 2025

The 2016 South China Sea Ruling at Nine: Where Does ASEAN Stand?

Pham Ngoc Minh Trang

Nine years after an international arbitral tribunal ruled in the Philippines’ favour against China on the two parties’ disputed claims in the South China Sea, there are some glimmers of a more coherent – but still imperfect and incomplete – ASEAN position on the hotspot issue.

ASEAN China China-Philippine Relations Philippine South China Sea

9 Jul 2025

Eating Chinese Soft Power

Isabelle Chua

Isabelle Chua analyses the rapid expansion of Chinese food brands, highlighting how this trend has become an informal yet influential form of Chinese soft power in Southeast Asia.

ASEAN ASEAN-China Relations ASEANFocus China F&B

1 Jul 2025

Possible Conflict in the Taiwan Strait: Southeast Asia Can Help US Maintain Focus

Ryan Hass

Amid growing risks of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, Southeast Asian countries can spur thinking on the Taiwan question by prodding Washington to match its words with deeds.

ASEAN China Pete Hegseth Taiwan US

25 Jun 2025

Bridging ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council: Why People-to-People Connectivity Matters

Melinda Martinus

Cooperation between ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council should be seen not only from the lens of trade investments, but also people-to-people connections.

ASEAN Gulf Cooperation Council

24 Jun 2025

Roundtable on the Future of Global Trade

On 2 April 2025, the Trump 2.0 administration announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs aimed at eliminating the US trade deficit with individual countries – in a move hailed by US President Donald Trump as “Liberation Day”. Southeast Asian countries have not been spared, with Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar among the hardest hit. Some countries, including China, have responded with retaliatory measures, raising the risk of further escalation from the US. While a temporary 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs offers a brief respite, this period is set to expire in early July.

ASEAN ASEAN-US Relations ASEANFocus Economic Development US

12 Jun 2025

ASEAN Vision 2045: What Does It Hold for Our Shared Future?

Elizabeth Buensuceso

ASEANFocus+ is pleased to feature H.E. Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, the Philippines’ Eminent Person to the High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on the Post-2025 ASEAN Community Vision (ACV). As the ACV 2045 was adopted at the 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Ambassador Buensuceso offers insights into its development, sharing the formulation process and how the ACV 2045 will help ASEAN navigate an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving geopolitical environment.

ASEAN ASEAN Summit ASEAN Unity ASEANFocus

2 Jun 2025

Two-Tiered DEFA Needs A Coherent Strategy For Implementation

Kristina Fong Siew Leng

Given differing levels of digital capabilities among ASEAN members, a two-tier solution to the Digital Economy Framework Agreement might be most fitting.

ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement

29 May 2025

Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship: Laying the Groundwork for Vision 2045

Joanne Lin|Melinda Martinus|Kristina Fong Siew Leng

Joanne Lin, Melinda Martinus and Kristina Fong analyse how Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship and Vision 2045 reflect ASEAN’s strategic recalibration amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.

ASEAN ASEAN Summit ASEANFocus Malaysia