Summits held across the Asia-Pacific have underscored the notion of an escalating Cold War between the United States and China. Rather than bridging divides, the meetings have raised concerns that regional nations may soon be forced to choose their loyalty between one or the other superpowers.
The US and China not only forwarded competing visions for the future of the world’s most dynamic region, but also directly criticized each other in a bid to shore up support among regional partners in attendance at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summits held respectively in recent days in Singapore and Papua New Guinea.
