China pips the US if Asean is forced to choose, but analysts warn against reading it like a sports result

[SINGAPORE] When presented with a hypothetical binary choice between choosing to align with either Beijing or Washington, more respondents in the latest annual survey by a home-based think tank picked China.

In Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute’s State of Southeast Asia poll, 52 per cent selected China, and 48 per cent, the US – a swing back towards Beijing from last year, when 52.3 per cent chose the US, and 47.7 per cent, China.