Southeast Asia Needs to Choose Between the US, China on Principles, Experts Say

With the intensifying rivalry between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, Southeast Asian countries can no longer sit on the fence, and have a tough choice to make. That choice should be made based on worldviews and principles, experts say.

John Lee, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, who worked for the Australian government as a senior national security adviser until April, said that with the discussion of Southeast Asia’s tough choice between the United States and China, recent comments by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s could very well reflect the situation.

“If you are friends with two countries, which are on different sides, sometimes it is possible to get along with both. Sometimes, it is more awkward when you try to get along with both. I think it is very desirable not to take sides, but the circumstance may come when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN] may have to choose one or the other. I am hoping that it will not come soon,” the prime minister said Nov. 14, during the final day of the annual ASEAN summit, which was held in his city-state.

Read the full article and more in The Epoch Times.