Wilson Center fellow says Chinese diplomat claimed China is "the most leading partner in ASEAN" for Southeast Asia at congressional briefing

Wilson Center Global Fellow Prashanth Parameswaran discusses how China wanted to entrench itself as the leading power in Southeast Asia at the expense of the United States with Chinese officials openly saying this in the region and indicating they sensed a window of opportunity to make inroads if the United States was distracted, with one Chinese diplomat having told Southeast Asian countries at a regional forum that China saw itself as the most leading partner in ASEAN and the self-evident choice for the region at a US-China Economic and Security Review Commission briefing on United States and Chinese relations with Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.