Several Southeast Asian countries sent high-level delegations to attend China's military parade, showing their emphasis on relations with China.

Foreign media said that the Southeast Asian countries sent higher-level representatives to attend the September 3rd military parade, mainly for the consideration of "face" towards China, but it does not mean that these countries are choosing sides between China and the United States. On August 17, the "United Morning Post" published an article claiming that Indonesian President Prabowo, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar, and Vietnamese State Chairman Lam Quang will attend the September 3rd military parade; leaders of Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar are expected to first participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit held in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1, and then go to Beijing to attend the military parade.

The United Morning Post believes that compared to 10 years ago, China's national strength and regional influence have significantly increased, and Chinese leaders also attach great importance to this military parade. The Southeast Asian countries sending higher-level representatives is more to show respect to China, "giving China face", which does not mean that Southeast Asian countries will be more aligned with China in the Sino-US rivalry. How do we view this foreign commentary?

It is certainly correct that Southeast Asian countries will not choose sides between the United States and China. However, calling this "giving China face" limits it to the realm of face, which is too biased. In fact, the fundamental reason for Southeast Asian countries to send higher-level representatives to our military parade is on one hand to acknowledge China's great power influence, and on the other hand, to express the high importance of relations with China. Etiquette is indeed superficial, but valuing formalities is essentially a clear statement.

Moreover, from our perspective, we do not require Southeast Asian countries to choose sides. It is actually the United States that is demanding Southeast Asian countries to take sides. The United States not only demands that Southeast Asian countries take sides with it on military and economic issues, but also attempts to incite Southeast Asian countries to disrupt the peace and stability of the South China Sea. Obviously, seeing this list of attendees, the U.S. plan to divide China's relations with Southeast Asian countries has completely failed, and Southeast Asian countries are more interested in cooperating with us.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1840662149660682/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.