While the US is busy containing the coronavirus, Beijing stakes its claims in the South China Sea.

China had already been gaining in Southeast Asia before the pandemic began. Now Beijing is looking to press ahead.

When the G2 idea still had currency, a pandemic might have seemed a potential moment for US-China cooperation

A recent survey reveals distrust of both China and the US across Southeast Asia, and a pragmatic sense of partnerships.

By backing each other’s claims, a united Southeast Asian front would be difficult for Beijing to divide and conquer.

Withdrawing from a mega-regional trade deal is a setback, but New Delhi has other ways of enhancing regional engagement.

From the South China Sea to the Rohingya crisis, Saifuddin Abdullah speaks to Lowy’s Ben Bland on Asia’s big challenges.

What was Factory Asia has made a subtle shift to a consumer-driven Market Asia under the “world’s biggest trade deal”.

Measuring and managing the world economy – and Australia’s place – sees a pushback to a “negative globalism” mantra.

Southeast Asia has its own interest in maintaining the free flow of trade in the region.

The terminology might have converged, but differing interpretations of how to manage the region still pose a challenge.

The terms of the debate might be finally settled, but the contest will go on. And on.

ASEAN will never be in the business of naming and shaming, but its past way of doing diplomacy is evolving.

The unwieldy sounding AANZFTA is a surprise hit with Australian business.

A pressing need to feed a big population with little agricultural land and shirking fish stocks could spur innovation.

Often dismissed as a “talk-shop”, the significance of this existing forum in a complex and nervous Asia could grow.

Bangkok’s ambition of leading ASEAN, stymied by domestic strife, can be achieved by combating labour trafficking.

Mahathir’s portrait of racial harmony in Malaysia is inspiring – except, of course, for being demonstrably false.

Several Southeast Asian nations fall short of adhering to a “rules-based order” and may not be the hedge against China.

Vietnam has long sought to calibrate its defence posture in the shadows of great power competition.

The most overcrowded refugee camp on the planet has more than twice the population of Canberra crammed into an area the size of beachside Victorian town Sorrento.

From missed media moments to remarkable bridges, Greg Earl on the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.

<p>An indiscreet former foreign minister gave a&nbsp;valuable&nbsp;insight into the costs of membership.</p>

A new World Bank report allows stronger judgments about economic issues facing the region.

<p>Regular The Interpreter columnist&nbsp;Greg Earl&nbsp;previews the special Australia-ASEAN summit.</p>

Australia’s relations with the region are not mediated by a lightly institutionalised inter-governmental institution.

Communicating contradictory images and aspirations does not help create a consistent perception of ASEAN among its external partners.

For all its inconveniences, Australia is overwhelmingly dependent on ASEAN working and working well.

Canberra is busy diversifying its diplomatic efforts partly in response to ASEAN's shortcomings.

India's position on ASEAN reflects an ambition to create a bulwark against the emergence of a Sino-centric regional order.

Manila summit again showed the limits of a consensus model, yet wins can be seen.

Too much time on problems without solutions will doom ASEAN to paltry progress.

ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meetings tend to avoid the speculation and stalemates that make the leaders' summits such ham-fisted affairs.

Myanmar’s security challenges remain predominantly land-based, although they do aggravate security threats in its maritime domain.

The author asks whether Cambodia's position as the region's most corrupt state presages the fate of the region as a whole.

Should Timor-Leste not become the 11th ASEAN member by the end of 2017, momentum may be lost and ascension indefinitely delayed.

With elections slated within the next year, the Malaysian government is running out of time to secure its economic future.

Relying on commercial ties to add ballast to bilateral diplomatic relations can quickly come undone if the deals start going wrong.

By 2030 ASEAN is projected to be the world’s fourth-largest economic bloc.

Where the South China Sea was once the big ticket item for the bloc's summits, this weekend was dominated by another lingering regional flashpoint – North Korea.

It’s easy to overlook an event that perhaps offers Turnbull his best shot at his own regional legacy this term – the summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Sydney next March.

Asia's leaders know to take the bluster of Trump's initial policy statements with a heaping of salt and await more nuanced follow-up from his senior staff.

ASEAN Summits are largely defined by what is left unresolved and unsaid, rather than what is acknowledged in the chair statements.

There are other, more reliable ways of signalling US commitment to the region.