The relationships between the Association of South-East Asian Nations, China and the United States are under pressure in a world in which the global order is changing dramatically.

The change is a product of the big shifts in the structure of global power driven by the success of that order, with the rise of China seen within the US and elsewhere no longer as a cause for celebration but of deepening disquiet. It’s a pressure intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on big power tensions and the global economy.