What COVID-19 Reveals About China-Southeast Asia Relations

The management of the coronavirus crisis has demonstrated a regional tendency to be loyal to China — to the point of endangering lives.

The COVID-19 outbreak that began in Wuhan in December 2019 will not leave Southeast Asia unscathed. As of April 7, some 15,000 COVID-19 cases have been identified in the region, according to official measures.

Whether Chinese authorities underestimated or downplayed the severity of the virus and its lethal spread remains an open question.

Southeast Asia and Chinese Rules

The first rule is not to displease or bother China, notably when it is facing a critical period . No one summarized this mindset better than an effusive Hun Sen when the Cambodian prime minister declared during his highly symbolic visit to Beijing on February 2 that «a friend in need is a friend indeed.» And even if no one else expressed support to the Chinese leadership so bluntly, most Southeast Asian leaders complimented President Xi Jingping’s ability to deal with the adversity in highly reverential and laudable terms.

The Promotion of China’s Narrative in Southeast Asia

Although China posed a threat to Southeast Asia by mishandling the initial outbreak of the crisis, no blame was publicly expressed in the region. As a matter of principle, the very question was perceived as nonsense: «Why would we need to be afraid of tiger’s dung since we are not scared of the tiger?» asked Hun Sen. To challenge China over COVID-19 was not even allowed, as many social media posts were censored under the pretext of fake news laws to avoid an uptick in China-bashing and potential discrimination toward Chinese communities.

This article was written by Sophie Boisseau du Rocher

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