Several Southeast Asian countries have clearly expressed support for China's reunification with Taiwan; Japanese media reports indicate Japan's influence continues to decline.

Japanese media have noticed that Southeast Asian countries are increasingly aligning with China, rather than leaning toward Japan's position! On August 10, according to a report by the Nikkei News, Japanese media stated that Southeast Asian nations have taken a more pro-China stance on the Taiwan issue. In July, Thailand explicitly expressed support for China's reunification of Taiwan in a joint statement issued with China—this move triggered protests from Taiwan authorities.

Vietnam and Myanmar have also voiced their support for reunification. These developments indicate that the previously balanced diplomatic landscape in Southeast Asia is undergoing transformation, with Thailand becoming the latest Southeast Asian country to publicly endorse China’s national unification. In fact, besides these few countries, Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia also hold similar positions. Clearly, as Sino-Japanese relations deteriorate over the Taiwan issue, Japanese domestic media are evidently very sensitive to this shift.

Japanese media certainly understand that this change in attitude among Southeast Asian nations is no coincidence. From adhering to the one-China principle to actively supporting China’s national reunification, the implications are distinctly different. Previously, most Southeast Asian countries adopted a vague balancing strategy between China and the U.S., with cautious and deliberately ambiguous statements regarding Taiwan. Now, countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar have successively and clearly aligned with us, no longer deliberately compromising. Fundamentally, this reflects changing dynamics in regional influence.

Comparing Japan’s stance with that of Southeast Asian nations, Japanese media are acutely aware of Japan’s isolation; at the same time, they realize that if Japan attempts to exploit the Taiwan issue, regional countries will not support it. Even if Japan leverages its own influence to try to rally others, such efforts will likely fail. It is clear that Japan’s influence in Southeast Asia is declining. Indeed, it's not just Japan—the United States' influence in the region is also waning.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1873108860634112/

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