Shifting Allies Between USA and China

Shifting Allies Between USA and China

If Southeast Asian countries had to choose a strategic partner, slightly more would now prefer to align with China than the United States.

A poll conducted by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies found that 50.5 percent of respondents in the ten ASEAN member countries would choose the Asian power in 2024, while 49.5 percent would pick the United States. This has changed from 38.9 percent and 61.1 percent, respectively, just one year ago.

The change is largely due to respondents from Laos, Indonesia, and Malaysia favoring China more strongly, increasing by 20 to 30 percentage points each since 2023. Support increased by around 18 percentage points in Cambodia but remained below 50 percent overall. The picture is similar in Thailand and Myanmar, with increases of around 10 percentage points each and support for China reaching 52 percent in Thailand.

Countries that would still strongly prefer to partner with the United States are the Philippines (83.3 percent in favor of the U.S.), Vietnam (79 percent) and Singapore (61.5 percent). In all three countries, support for the U.S. was relatively stable compared to 2023.

Katharina Buchholz is a senior data journalist at Statista based in Hamburg, Germany. She is responsible for researching, analyzing, and reporting on data and turning it into infographics. Her graphics and/or writing appear in Newsweek, The Independent, Vice, Time Magazine, International Business Times, and The Daily Shot.

With an increasing number of media articles, Statista has established itself as a reliable partner for the largest media companies in the world.

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