China in the Indo-Pacific: February 2025

Malaysia to Host Inaugural Summit: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that Malaysia will host the inaugural joint summit in May for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, and a bloc of Middle Eastern states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Anwar said that “strengthening ties with China, the Gulf Cooperation Council, BRICS and other emerging economies is not about choosing sides, rather, it is about ensuring ASEAN’s strategic relevance in a multipolar world.” Additionally, Anwar emphasized the commitment to remaining nonaligned and not being drawn into “great power rivalries.”

Deepening Defense Ties: Japan and the Philippines agreed to deepen defense collaboration between the two countries and discuss the protection of shared military information. Such defense collaboration highlights concerns addressed in the meeting regarding China’s actions in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro said that the Philippines was looking forward to bolstering defense relations with Japan “against unilateral attempts by China and other countries to change the international order and the narrative.” The two countries will enhance “operational cooperation” with joint defense training, port calls, and information sharing.

Bangladeshi Delegation to China: A Bangladeshi delegation has begun a ten-day visit to China. According to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) official leading the delegation, the trip is a “goodwill visit, initiated by Beijing.” Bangladesh’s delegation consists of members from the BNP and its allies, as well as representatives from the student movement that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The visit will mark the second visit of BNP officials in recent months.

The visit follows Beijing’s announcement that it would establish three hospitals dedicated to Bangladeshi patients in China. According to China’s ambassador to Bangladesh, Yao Wen, those efforts are made to “improve medical service mechanisms, including streamlining visa procedures.” Yao emphasized China’s role as the “largest investor in Bangladesh since the establishment of the interim government.” As diplomatic ties between Bangladesh and China develop, relations between Bangladesh and India continue to be strained following the removal of Hasina.

Chinese Naval Drills in the Tasman Sea: Australia and New Zealand raised alarm over China’s series of live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea. The naval drills forced dozens of flights to be diverted on short notice. Australia and New Zealand expressed concern and emphasized that China did not issue a Notice to Airmen about the drills. In response, China’s Ministry of Defense said that the exercises complied with international law and did not affect aviation safety. The Ministry accused Australia of “hyping up” the drills and making “unreasonable accusations.”

Naval Exercises in the South China Sea: The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is docked in the Philippines as France and the Philippines conduct joint drills in the South China Sea, including anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training. The ongoing exercise, coupled with recent naval engagement from France, reflects greater French involvement in regional security. French Ambassador to the Philippines Marie Fontanel stated that France aims to “deepen our cooperation with regional partners with whom we share common values such as upholding international law and ensuring freedom of navigation in shared maritime spaces.”

China has expressed concern over such exercises, saying that they “destabilize the region.” China views the Philippines’ actions as an “attempt to endorse its ‘illegal claims’ in the South China Sea” and undermine China’s maritime rights.

Visa-Free Policy: China announced that tour groups from ASEAN countries can visit Xishuangbanna, in the southwestern province of Yunnan, without a visa for up to six days. Groups of two or more passport holders from ASEAN countries are eligible to visit visa-free, provided they travel with a Chinese tour agency and enter and leave China together. The move is said to advance the tourism industry in southwest China and deepen the China-ASEAN strategic partnership.

China-Pakistan Cooperation: Following a recent visit of Pakistan’s president to China, the two countries announced the reconstruction of Pakistan’s railway network and further development of its Gwadar Port. The $65 billion investment is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and connects China’s western Xinjiang province with the Arabian Sea, forming the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The two countries’ joint statement recognizes the importance of the Gwadar Port as a “key node for connectivity and trade.” Similarly, Pakistan will encourage Chinese-funded enterprises to “carry out mining investment cooperation” within the country.

Brunei and Thailand Hold Meetings With Xi: On February 6, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra both had official meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. China agreed to deepen cooperation with Brunei on its digital economy, artificial intelligence, and new energy industries. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also mentioned several Belt and Road projects in its readout of the meeting, including the Guangxi-Brunei Economic Corridor to develop trade with the southern Chinese province and a joint project with Hengyi Industries to develop a petrochemical refinery in Brunei. Experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies observed that the statement’s language on developing offshore oil and gas, as well as its reference to Brunei and China’s overlapping claims in the South China Sea, mirrored China’s joint statement with Indonesia last November. President Prabowo Subianto’s apparent legitimation of Beijing’s South China Sea claims prompted domestic backlash and forced the Indonesian Foreign Ministry to downplay the agreement.

Scam Center Crackdown: Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s meeting with Xi commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of Thailand’s relations with China, but the two parties focused on a persistent source of tension in the relationship: cyber scam operations. Many of those cyber scam compounds are based in Myanmar on the border with Thailand. Criminal syndicates use forced labor, mostly Chinese nationals, to conduct online fraud against victims around the world, including many Chinese. Last month, actor Wang Xing was trafficked into a scam center in Myanmar under the belief he had a contract for film work in Thailand. Amid concerns from Chinese netizens about human trafficking in Thailand, Paetongtarn stressed that her country was still safe for Chinese tourists. China is Thailand’s largest source of tourism.

Prior to her meeting in Beijing, Paetongtarn announced Thailand had shut off electricity and internet connection to its border towns and cut oil and gas shipments to Myanmar to obstruct scam-compound operations. The move marked the opening salvo of a coordinated effort between officials from China, Myanmar, and Thailand to shut down the compounds and extract trafficking victims. Then, China’s Assistant Minister of Public Security Liu Zhongyi became the first foreign official to cross the border from Mae Sot, Thailand, to Myawaddy, Myanmar—one of Southeast Asia’s fraud epicenters. He also viewed the Thai facilities that hold rescued victims before deportation to their home countries. China repatriated over one thousand citizens from eastern Myanmar during February’s operation. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Guo Jiakun applauded the “thunder-style cooperation” with Myanmar and Thailand against the scam centers.

However, the government’s decision to deport large groups of Chinese, without thoroughly investigating them in Thailand first, has sparked criticism. Although many of those rescued claim they were lured to the scam centers on false pretenses, usually with a promise of a job, China treats the deportees as suspects. Thailand hands Chinese citizens over to Chinese police, who are sent on charter flights to China. Thai opposition lawmakers called on the government to conduct its own screenings to determine whether returnees are criminals or victims. In response, Assistant Minister of Public Security Liu Zhongyi told Thai officials he “respects Thai sovereignty and domestic law” and apologized “for causing any misunderstanding among Thais” that he has “intruded on Thai sovereignty.”

Despite February’s coordinated crackdown, reporting from the New York Times demonstrates that scam centers continue to operate in Myanmar, suggesting current efforts are akin to a game of whack-a-mole.