Asean Pragmatism Counts a Whole Lot for Gulf Council, China
As the global landscape fractures into aggressive camps, noted by trade wars, proxy problems, and technical decoupling, the search for neutral, pragmatic, and tactical systems intensifies. For two climbing posts of influence– the Gulf Collaboration Council (GCC) and China– that search increasingly leads to one area: Asean.
This pivot towards Southeast Asia is not aesthetic. It shows a deeper recalibration of global diplomacy and commerce, where Asean’s mix of neutrality, calculated midpoint, and economic vigor makes it a crucial center in a separated world. At a time when global summits are increasingly weaponized by ideological battles, Asean stands out for its non-confrontational ethos.
Its foundational principle of non-interference, combined with a consensus-based decision-making society, makes it an unusual system where states from significantly different systems– autonomous, tyrannical, capitalist, and socialist– can meet without fear of censure. For the GCC, whose connections with the West usually oscillate between critical positions and normative rubbing, Asean provides a respectful and non-judgmental setting. China, too, finds in Asean a dialogist that does not evoke ideological rivalry or historical baggage.
In comparison to the tension-prone Indo-Pacific forums dominated by USA allies, Asean offers a corridor of peaceful engagement. This diplomatic nonpartisanship allows Asean to function as a convener, a bridge-builder, and increasingly, a rule-shaper in forums like the East Asia Summit and the Asean Regional Forum.
For the GCC and China, these qualities make Asean not just attractive, but essential. Beyond diplomacy, Asean serves an essential function in connecting the economic strengths of the GCC and China. The Gulf states are energy giants seeking diversified, high-growth markets.
Asean countries, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, represent dynamic economies with growing demand for oil, gas, and petrochemical products. Gulf sovereign wealth funds have started viewing Asean as a strategic hedge: investing in halal food supply chains, Islamic finance, tourism infrastructure, and tech startups.
Meanwhile, China sees Asean as the linchpin of its Belt and Road Initiative, especially its maritime dimension. Ports, railways, and highways from Malaysia to Laos to Indonesia are being reimagined as arteries of Chinese connectivity, enabling a flow of goods and influence from East Asia to the Middle East and Africa.
Asean’s geographic centrality– between the Indian and Pacific Oceans and securing key maritime chokepoints– makes it more than a transit point. It is the convergence zone for two of the most ambitious economic strategies of the 21st century.
What further deepens the engagement is the civilizational comfort both the GCC and China feel in dealing with Asean. For the Gulf, Asean is home to the world’s largest Muslim population, with Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, southern Thailand, and the Philippines providing religious and social commonality.
Rather than rivalry, there is collaboration in Islamic finance, halal certification, and religious education. Gulf states see Asean as a partner in promoting a moderate and contemporary narrative of Islam. China, though officially secular, approaches Asean with a cultural diplomacy rooted in Confucian ideals of harmony, respect, and relational governance.
It promotes people-to-people exchanges, scholarships, and Confucius institutes as soft paths of affinity. In comparison to its more adversarial relationships with India, Japan, or Australia, China sees Asean as a region with shared developmental goals and convenient historical sensitivities.
Perhaps the most profound reason for the GCC’s and China’s preference for Asean is that it demonstrates how a non-Western model of multilateralism can work effectively. Forums like Asean +3, the East Asia Summit, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Collaboration are not framed by Western ideological backgrounds or power asymmetries.
Instead, they reflect a logic of mutual respect, gradualism, and practical participation. No lectures, no sanctions, and no strings attached. For the GCC and China, who have grown increasingly disillusioned with Western-dominated institutions like the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and even the United Nations Security Council, Asean-led systems offer both legitimacy and flexibility.
They are not about replacing the West but creating parallel systems that better represent the interests of the Global South. Asean, in its quiet materialism, has become a super-connector– a diplomatic and economic axis that binds East Asia, the Gulf, and the wider Indo-Pacific.
The author is a professor of Asean Studies, International Islamic College Malaysia, and Visiting Faculty, Asia-Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya. © New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd.
