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Opinion
Why China need not fear US-led ‘Squad’ evolving into Asian Nato
Uncertainty surrounds the ‘Squad’, including the US’ ability to support another grouping and Trump’s push for a grand bargain with China
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Richard Javad Heydarian is an Asia-based academic, currently a Professorial Chairholder in Geopolitics at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
The Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur witnessed major geopolitical developments, including a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia presided over by US President Donald Trump. Eager to mend recently strained relations with Washington, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, chairman of the regional body this year, also signed a new trade deal with the United States.
However, one of the most crucial meetings took place on the sidelines of the summit. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, met his counterparts from Australia (Richard Marles), Japan (Shinjiro Koizumi) and the Philippines (Gilbert Teodoro) in the latest edition of the “Squad” meeting. China was clearly at the heart of their discussion.
In contrast to the more measured language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on regional affairs, the four defence chiefs expressed “serious concern regarding China’s destabilising actions in the East China Sea and the South China Sea” as well as “opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion”.
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