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US clout in Southeast Asia grows even as China still viewed as most influential: survey
- Annual survey by Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute polled more than 1,300 people across Southeast Asia to assess views on nations that ‘inform, influence policy’
- It found growing support for Washington and decline for Beijing, although enthusiasm for US fell in some areas; Japan was region’s most trusted power
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While China remains the most influential political and strategic power in Southeast Asia, its influence over the last year has declined considerably among those with policymaking powers in the region, while the clout of the United States has risen, according to an annual survey.
Support for the US among countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore and the Philippines was on an upwards trend, according to the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s investigation, which polled 1,308 people from Southeast Asia.
Now in its fifth edition, the Singapore-based think tank’s survey is aimed at offering a “snapshot of the prevailing attitudes among those in a position to inform or influence policy”.
Across the region, the number of respondents who said they viewed China as the most influential and strategic power stood at 41.5 per cent, down from 54.4 per cent in last year’s survey.
In Laos, the decline on this metric went from 75 per cent last year to 30.8 per cent in the latest survey; in junta-ruled Myanmar, there was a decrease from 70.9 per cent last year to 40 per cent currently.
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