Co-Chairs Price and Schriver, distinguished commissioners, and staff, thank you for the opportunity to testify on this first panel, “U.S.-China Strategic Competition in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.” I work on the geopolitics of Southeast Asia and its international relations, particularly its ties with the United States and China, and will confine my remarks to Southeast Asia.
This is an important topic. The United States has prioritized the Indo-Pacific and recognizes that the “loss of U.S. preeminence in the Indo-Pacific would weaken [the United States’] ability to achieve U.S. interests globally,” but is ceding influence to China in Southeast Asia, a…