Abstract

Superpower competition has intensified uncertainty and volatility in the Indo-Pacific, with serious economic, security and geopolitical ramifications for countries here. How regional leaders Indonesia and Malaysia view and engage the US and China is critical not just for their national interests, but also the evolution of regional peace, security and stability.

This three-panel seminar brings together four leading scholarly and policy experts to explore the experience of Indonesia and Malaysia in their engagements with the US and China in the Trump-Xi era. Panels 1 and 2 focus on these two countries’ relations with the US and China respectively. The discussion centres on the challenges and tensions; and opportunities for strengthening existing cooperation and expanding into new areas of cooperation. These include defence and security ties, and the securitisation of relations particularly in the areas of technology supply chains, manufacturing, critical minerals and energy security. Additionally, bilateral engagements at the political and people-to-people levels are assessed, especially on how policymaking elites’ view of the US and China converge with or diverge from public opinion in both countries.

The third panel looks at the competitive and cooperative dynamics between Indonesia and Malaysia as each country pursues its interests vis-à-vis China and the US. It also analyses the views of Indonesia and Malaysia on the role of ASEAN and other groupings in managing superpower competition while securing their respective national interests.

About the Speakers

Klaus Heinrich Raditio is currently a lecturer in Chinese politics at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy, Indonesia. Prior to joining academia, he served as a diplomat at Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Klaus is the author of Understanding China’s Behaviour in the South China Sea: A Defensive Realist Perspective (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). His research and commentary—focused on China and Southeast Asian affairs—have been featured in leading international relations outlets.

Andrew Wiguna Mantong is a Researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Indonesia. He has produced extensive analysis on ASEAN’s institutional development, Indonesia’s strategic posture, great-power rivalry, middle-power collaboration, and the nexus between non-traditional security and domestic politics. Andrew has served as national and regional consultant for ASEAN, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other agencies of Indo-Pacific and European countries, contributing to work on conflict prevention, regional security architecture, critical minerals supply chains, diplomatic posture strengthening, and economic security.

Ngeow Chow Bing is Associate Professor and Director of the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya, and a Nonresident Scholar at Carnegie China. He is editor of various books such as Malaysia-China Relations: Progress, Partnership, Prospects, Populism, Nationalism and South China Sea Dispute, and Southeast Asia and China: A Contest in Mutual Socialization. He has published in various academic journals such as The China Review, Journal of Contemporary China, Contemporary Southeast Asia, East Asia: An International Quarterly, Issues and Studies, and others. In addition, he has also published shorter pieces on media and policy-oriented online platforms such as ThinkChina, East Asia Forum, and others.

Elina Noor is a non-resident scholar in the Asia programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She focuses on developments in Southeast Asia, particularly the impact and implications of technology in reshaping power dynamics, governance, and nation-building in the region. Previously, Elina was director of political-security affairs and deputy director of the Washington, D.C. office at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Prior to that, Elina was an associate professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu. She was also the former director of foreign policy and security studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia. Elina was also formerly with the Brookings Institution’s Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World.