[US-China New Cold War] China Turns Away Even Emerging Countries, Deepening Diplomatic Isolation

Southeast Asia, South China Sea Territorial Disputes Fuel Anti-China Sentiment
Africa Sees Growing Anti-China Moves Amid Calls for Debt Relief

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Contrary to China's confidence in its response to the U.S., emerging countries in Southeast Asia and Africa have turned their backs since the COVID-19 pandemic. In Southeast Asia, disputes over sovereignty in the South China Sea have intensified after COVID-19, while in Africa, anti-China sentiment is growing due to debt issues with China and controversies over racial discrimination within China.

According to foreign media including the Associated Press on the 5th (local time), the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement earlier this month condemning, "The Chinese government's establishment of two administrative districts in the South China Sea infringes upon the Philippines' territorial sovereignty." This was in response to the Chinese government's unilateral establishment of the Xisha District and Nansha District under Sansha City, Hainan Province, in the disputed South China Sea area on the 18th of last month.

It is considered unusual that even the Philippines, previously classified as a pro-China country, issued a statement opposing the Chinese government's establishment of administrative districts in the South China Sea. Earlier, on the 4th of last month, the Philippine government strongly criticized the Chinese Coast Guard for attacking and sinking a Vietnamese fishing boat, accusing it of trespassing in its territorial waters in the South China Sea, and announced it would respond jointly with the Vietnamese government.

According to Foreign Policy (FP), a U.S. diplomatic media outlet, China has continued high-intensity provocations since early last month when COVID-19 cases were confirmed on four U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, weakening U.S. Navy operations in the South China Sea. As a result, anti-China sentiment among Southeast Asian countries, which had previously shown pro-China tendencies, has deepened, and the U.S. is exploiting this gap created by anti-China sentiment, FP reported. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a video conference with ASEAN foreign ministers on the 23rd of last month, "The Chinese Communist Party is exploiting the COVID-19 crisis," and urged, "Southeast Asian countries must unite to confront China."

In the African region, as economic difficulties worsened due to COVID-19, countries have requested debt relief from China. However, China has remained silent on this matter. According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP), African countries, whose economic hardships have intensified due to the COVID-19 impact, requested debt repayment relief amounting to about $100 billion from the Group of Twenty (G20). It is estimated that the Chinese government had lent approximately $143 billion to 49 African governments and state-owned enterprises by 2017. Bradley Parks, a professor at William & Mary University in the U.S., pointed out, "China may offer control over the assets of African countries or ease repayment conditions regarding their debts to China, but it will never grant debt forgiveness."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.