Element of discomfort in accepting China's hand of friendship: ISEAS Coordinator

Beijing [China], December 18 : Although it is said that the South East Asian region depends on China for its economic future, there is an element of discomfort when it comes to unhesitatingly accepting China's hand of friendship, said the Coordinator of the ASEAN Studies Centre and Coordinator of the Climate Change in Southeast Asia Programme, Sharon Seah Li-Lian, according to The Singapore Post.
According to Li-Lian, there is a perception among South East Asian countries that China could use its power and influence to threaten their sovereignty and independence.
"China's determination to expand and deepen its scope of influence in the region is no secret; neither is its latitude in deploying coercive approaches towards countries that rebuff its advances," said Li-Lian while speaking at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
There are anxieties and concerns about China which is regarded as the most influential power in South East Asia, Li-Lian said.
According to China File, China is not winning the hearts and minds of the region and is thus failing to advance its interests.
"Could it be that Beijing would rather be feared than loved," asks Daniel Russel, Diplomat in Residence and Senior Fellow of the Asia Society Policy Institute, according to a report in The Singapore Post.
The same report quotes Russel answering his question: "The crux of the tensions between China and its Southeast Asian neighbours was voiced by an angry Yang Jiechi in 2010 when he yelled at an ASEAN forum: "China is a big country and you are small countries, and that is a fact." China's diplomatic and economic blandishments are undercut by Beijing's seeking simultaneously to consolidate control over fish, oil, gas, mineral resources, and access in the South China Sea. The divergence of interests between China and its neighbours, however, is not fundamentally about disputed territory, political ideology, or the economy. It derives from Beijing's apparent conviction that its own interests, particularly its "core" interests, are intrinsically more valid than the interests of its neighbours."
The China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation can be perceived as another expansionist attempt by China to amplify its presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) by investing in ports and infrastructure in the IOR countries, especially in South Asia, Mizzima News reported.
According to the report, against the backdrop of the recent setbacks China faced in the region, including in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum is a clear attempt by Beijing to reclaim some of the lost ground.