Speaker:

Prof Kuik Cheng-Chwee
Institute of Malaysian and International Studies
National University of Malaysia

Date & Time:

Thursday, 29 May 2025
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm (Singapore Time)

On-Site Venue:

469A Bukit Timah Rd, #06-01 Tower Block, Singapore 259770

Registration is required:

Please click here and indicate if you are joining in person: https://nus-sg.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_znFjBWLDTXC8JHVxa5C96w

Synopsis:

Southeast Asia-China relations are one of the most important and transformative relations in today’s world, gaining growing significance in terms of economics, connectivity and regional architecture in Asia. After US President Donald Trump’s announcements of “reciprocal tariffs” and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visits to three Southeast Asian countries in April, observers have noted emerging trends. Most regional states, for instance, are purportedly tilting increasingly towards Beijing, deepening ties with China, or even replacing their long-held “hedging” policies with one of “bandwagoning” with the Asian giant.

This seminar assesses these emerging views, arguing that while ongoing developments may accelerate pre-existing trends—such as the gradual erosions of the “dual hierarchies” of Asian order, with the United States leading in security and China in economics—ASEAN states have not stopped hedging. The speaker will explain how and why regional states are seeking to hedge even more actively, inclusively and adaptively. States hedge not because it is risk- or cost-free (an impossibility in the policy world) but because hedging is viewed as a more acceptable or less unacceptable choice out of a range of non-ideal options under highly uncertain circumstances.