A significant shift in Asia’s geopolitical landscape is unfolding, marked by a recent summit between China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This inaugural trilateral meeting signals a new era of cooperation among these major players, with profound implications for global trade, security, and economic balance.
The timing of this summit is noteworthy, given the intensifying rivalry between China, the US, and other global powers in the region. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent tour of Southeast Asia and US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the region underscore the strategic importance of ASEAN and the GCC in the broader geopolitical landscape. French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Southeast Asia also highlights the European Union’s interest in maintaining a presence in the region.
The China-ASEAN-GCC summit brought together the world’s second- and fifth-largest economies, along with key energy and raw material suppliers. Chinese Premier Li Qiang envisioned a ‘big triangle’ of cooperation, emphasizing ‘shared Asian values’ of openness, cooperation, and integration. This narrative is central to Beijing’s renewed focus on neighboring states, as evidenced by Xi’s high-level conference on relations with the ‘near abroad’.
The summit’s agenda focused on economic issues, with China proposing an extension of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area to include the GCC. This move could accelerate trade liberalization and amplify the benefits of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s largest free trade zone. Cooperation between China and the GCC is expanding beyond traditional sectors to cutting-edge areas like artificial intelligence, digital economy, and 5G technology.
However, contentious issues persist, including territorial disputes and sovereignty concerns in the South China Sea. China’s disputes with several ASEAN member states and perceptions of Chinese assertiveness have fueled anxieties over economic overdependence and potential ‘debt traps’. The broader China-US rivalry remains a defining dynamic, with ASEAN and GCC nations navigating a delicate balance between American and Chinese interests.
Despite these complexities, the China-ASEAN-GCC platform represents a novel configuration in the emerging multipolar world order. It reflects the accelerating momentum of South-South cooperation, integrating multipolarity with multilateralism and economic globalization. As ASEAN and the GCC strive to engage both China and the US, the key questions revolve around their ability to balance great power rivalries, sustain a delicate equilibrium, and avoid the formation of military blocs in the Asia-Pacific region. The answers to these questions will emerge over time, as this trilateral framework navigates the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape.
