South East-Asia - Caught in the middle of a new US-China cold war

Vietnam has tried to balance China’s influence by engaging the United States. The country has carefully calibrates its interaction with Washington while keeping an eye on Beijing's interaction, wrote ISEAS. - AFP

SINGAPORE: As the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak in China worsened early in the year, many countries in South-East Asia sent medical supplies to their giant neighbour as a gesture of goodwill and solidarity.

Malaysia sent 18 million gloves in January. The Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore donated medical equipment such as masks, hazmat suits, goggles and test kits in February, some dropping off the supplies before picking up their citizens from the epicentre of the outbreak in Wuhan.