What heightened long-term competition between US and China means for Asean

Note: This article was originally published in Today Online on 8 October 2018.  A keynote speech from Amb Bilahari Kausikan addressed at the 7th ERIA Editors' Roundtable which organised by the ERIA and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), on 7^th October 2018 in Singapore was featured.

United States-China relations have now entered a new phase of heightened long-term competition. And this means Asean will need greater agility, unity and resolve than it has shown in recent years to navigate a prolonged period of messiness and uncertainty, said retired diplomat Bilahari Kausikan in a keynote address on Sunday (Oct 7) at a regional roundtable on Asean's challenges ahead. Below is the transcript of the speech by the former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the event organised by the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia and the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. (Read the full article by using the link above).

Photo credit: Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at their first summit in Palm Beach, Florida, in April 2017. The US and China are not natural partners, nor are they inevitable enemies, says Mr Kausikan. (Reuters)