{"id":98516,"date":"2025-06-19T13:42:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T11:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=98516"},"modified":"2025-06-19T13:42:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T11:42:21","slug":"the-asia-pacific-report-southeast-asia-grapples-with-global-conflicts-and-us-trade-frustrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/the-asia-pacific-report-southeast-asia-grapples-with-global-conflicts-and-us-trade-frustrations\/","title":{"rendered":"The Asia Pacific Report- Southeast Asia grapples with global conflicts and US trade frustrations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n19 June 2025 | 13:50 CAT
\n2-minute read<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As global conflicts escalate in the Middle East and tariff negotiations with the US grow increasingly fraught, Southeast Asian countries are feeling the pressure\u2014both politically and economically.<\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s Asia Pacific Report<\/a>, Dr Bridget Welsh, an educator and political analyst based at the University of Nottingham\u2019s Asia Research Institute in Kuala Lumpur, unpacked how tensions in the Middle East and shifting trade policies are reverberating across the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many, many Southeast Asian workers in the Middle East,\u201d she explained, \u201cand so we\u2019ve seen many ties, over 40 000 of them trying to scramble.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conflict\u2019s human impact has extended beyond diplomatic statements, triggering evacuations and economic uncertainty for migrant workers from the region.<\/p>\n

Malaysia has taken a bold and public stance. \u201cMalaysia\u2026 has actually adopted a position that has defended Iran,\u201d Dr. Welsh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically talking about how the attacks are unjustified from their perspective, and calling on the international community to re-examine what is happening and the role that Israel is playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sentiment is echoed in Muslim-majority Southeast Asian nations, where widespread anger over Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza has mobilised public and political solidarity.<\/p>\n

Yet the region is far from united. While Malaysia and Indonesia voice strong support for Palestine, countries like Singapore and Thailand maintain warmer diplomatic ties with Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong other Southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore and Thailand,\u201d she noted, \u201cthere is more sympathy for Israel\u2026 but they similarly see this unnecessary escalation of the attacks as deeply worrying.\u201d<\/p>\n

A month-long territorial dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over border regions has escalated into a national security concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had one death so far in skirmishes between the two countries,\u201d Dr Welsh reported.<\/p>\n

Cambodia has approached the international court once again, and trade and labour flows between the two neighbours have already been disrupted. \u201cThere are also some tensions between some of the older leaders,\u201d she added, \u201cand this is spilling over into domestic politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the region\u2019s economic resilience is being tested by US tariffs that are reshaping global trade dynamics. Vietnam, in particular, has taken a hit. \u201cIts economy is dependent on exports and it\u2019s received a shocking tariff\u2026 of over 40 percent,\u201d Dr Welsh revealed.<\/p>\n

Despite proactive engagement with Washington, Southeast Asian countries have found the US response to be inconsistent and unclear. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of frustration\u2026 the United States doesn\u2019t have a clear strategy,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n

Listen <\/strong>to the Asia Pacific Report<\/a> on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za 19 June 2025 | 13:50 CAT 2-minute read As global conflicts escalate in the Middle East and tariff negotiations with the US grow increasingly fraught, Southeast Asian countries are feeling the pressure\u2014both politically and economically. In this week\u2019s Asia Pacific Report, Dr Bridget Welsh, an educator and political analyst based at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":90718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Asia-Pacific-Report.jpg?fit=2268%2C2268&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pCY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 15:57:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}