Southeast Asia is increasingly using arms deals and military-to-military ties with global powers—mainly the US and China—to walk a balancing act. However, as the US picks and chooses its “preferred partners,” China is cashing in, building trust, and deepening its defence ties with regional states that no longer trust America’s long-term commitments.

Southeast Asia’s growing appetite for arms

Before 2017, the US was the largest supplier of weapons to Thailand. Today, China has already upset Washington’s dominance. Beijing is not only Thailand’s largest source of defence equipment; it provides nearly three times as much as the US, according to a recent study by the Lowy Institute. Its findings also show that Cambodia gets over 90% of its arms from China. Countries like Indonesia are also increasing their military ties with China, data shows.

Beyond selling weapons, China has rapidly expanded its security footprint in the region through military-to-military cooperation. Between 2017 and 2024, Beijing signed ten new defence agreements with Southeast Asian countries. In 2024, Major General Zhang Baoqun, deputy director of China’s Office for........

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