Don’t lose the shirt off our back

WHILE they should not be negative about China, Asean member states should not however surrender their sovereign rights or abdicate from their commitment to greater regional integration in South-East Asia.

Alas, one or two Asean states have completely sold out. Others are measuring cost and benefit of deeper involvement with China, trying to balance and hedge. Another one or two try to show they have options without particularly wanting to antagonise the rising power.