As Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held separate meetings this week in Southeast Asia, the two partners BRIC The economic bloc faced a region eager to join a group it saw as a bulwark against Western-led institutions.
During an interview with Chinese media ahead of Lee’s visit to Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced his intention to apply to the group after it doubled its size this year to woo Global South countries — partly by offering access to financing, but also by providing a political platform independent of Washington’s influence.
Thailand – a treaty ally of the US – last month announced its bid to join BRICS, named after members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa told reporters last week that the bloc represents a “South-South cooperative framework that Thailand has long wanted to be part of.”
For countries seeking to mitigate the economic risks of increasing US-China competition, joining BRICS is an attempt to ease some of those tensions. In Southeast Asia, many countries are economically dependent on trade with China, while at the same time welcoming the security presence and investment that Washington provides.
But BRICS membership also signals growing frustration with the US-led international order and key institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which are still controlled by Western powers.
“Some of us, myself included, think we need to find a solution to the unfair international financial and economic architecture,” Malaysia’s former foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah said in an interview. “So BRICS will probably be one of the ways to balance things out.”
For Putin and the Chinese leader Xi JinpingInterest in BRICS also reflects their success in thwarting attempts by the US and its allies to isolate them broadly over the war in Ukraine and military threats to Taiwan, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan.
Leader of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky The U.S. president struggled to persuade Asian nations to lend support at his peace summit in Switzerland earlier this month, and Putin this week signed a defense pact with North Korea while warning that he reserves the right to arm American adversaries around the world.
The club had just five members for several years, but in January it was expanded to include Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt, an effort largely led by China as it seeks to increase its influence on the global stage.
Indonesia, another Southeast Asian country, was also considered a favourite to join the organisation last year, but President Joko Widodo indicated he would not rush into a decision.
Long-term American foe
Still, the pace of adding new members has continued. Despite US and European efforts to prevent countries from aligning with Moscow, representatives of 12 non-member countries attended the BRICS talks held in Russia this month. These included old US foes such as Cuba and Venezuela, but also Turkey, Laos, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan.
Also present was Vietnam, which last year improved ties with Washington in a move seen as a counterweight to Beijing’s growing influence in the region. Hanoi is following the group’s progress with “keen interest,” state broadcaster Voice of Vietnam said last month.
“Vietnam is always ready to participate in and actively contribute to global and regional multilateral mechanisms,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Pham Thu Hang said at the time.
Vietnam welcomed the Russian leader this week, despite strong objections from the United States on the grounds that “no country should give Putin a platform to promote his aggressive war in Ukraine.” Vietnam and Russia have ties dating back to the Cold War and Soviet eras.
In a joint statement issued at the conclusion of their talks earlier this month, Russia welcomed Vietnam’s participation in the negotiations and said they would “continue to strengthen ties between the BRICS countries and developing countries, including Vietnam.”
It was unclear how much BRICS was involved in Putin’s closed-door talks in Vietnam, though the two countries pledged to boost defence and energy cooperation. China’s Li used his visit to Malaysia to deepen trade and economic ties and push forward the construction of key projects.
Cumbersome group
After this year’s expansion, BRICS plans to invite non-member countries to attend its next summit in October in the Russian city of Kazan. Hosting the event will give Moscow a chance to show the world that it is not completely isolated by Western opposition to the war in Ukraine.
“It’s no secret that Washington doesn’t like BRICS, particularly the membership of Iran and Russia,” said Scott Marcel, a former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Myanmar and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
At the same time, he said the larger the group becomes, the less likely it is to reach a consensus on key issues. “I believe Washington is probably not appreciative of Thailand and Malaysia’s move to join, but I don’t think there will be much resentment from it.”
A State Department official said the US was aware of the interest of Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in BRICS, adding that multilateral blocs should advance principles of the UN Charter such as respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The potential benefits of joining BRICS extend far beyond geopolitics.
$33 billion
The bloc’s members have agreed to amass $100 billion in foreign exchange reserves, which they can lend to each other during emergencies. The group has also set up the New Development Bank — a World Bank-model institution that has approved about $33 billion in loans mainly for water, transport and other infrastructure projects since it began operations in 2015.
This investment pool would be useful in Southeast Asia, where official growth is set to slow to $26 billion in fiscal 2022, according to a report released this month by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute.
Malaysia’s Saifuddin said another draw to membership is negative sentiment toward institutions such as the IMF, which promoted austerity measures that are sometimes blamed in the region for exacerbating the economic hardship caused by the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.
Washington has not stood by. It has strengthened security ties in the region on counterterrorism matters, and also with countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines, which are increasingly concerned about their disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. But as competition between the great powers intensifies everywhere, there is also recognition that the region needs to hedge its bets.
“The room for maneuver for smaller countries is getting smaller and smaller,” Ong Keng Yong, a former ASEAN secretary-general, said in an interview. “By joining organizations like BRICS, countries are signaling that they want to be friendly with all parties, not just the United States and its allies.”
During an interview with Chinese media ahead of Lee’s visit to Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced his intention to apply to the group after it doubled its size this year to woo Global South countries — partly by offering access to financing, but also by providing a political platform independent of Washington’s influence.
Thailand – a treaty ally of the US – last month announced its bid to join BRICS, named after members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa told reporters last week that the bloc represents a “South-South cooperative framework that Thailand has long wanted to be part of.”
For countries seeking to mitigate the economic risks of increasing US-China competition, joining BRICS is an attempt to ease some of those tensions. In Southeast Asia, many countries are economically dependent on trade with China, while at the same time welcoming the security presence and investment that Washington provides.
But BRICS membership also signals growing frustration with the US-led international order and key institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which are still controlled by Western powers.
“Some of us, myself included, think we need to find a solution to the unfair international financial and economic architecture,” Malaysia’s former foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah said in an interview. “So BRICS will probably be one of the ways to balance things out.”
For Putin and the Chinese leader Xi JinpingInterest in BRICS also reflects their success in thwarting attempts by the US and its allies to isolate them broadly over the war in Ukraine and military threats to Taiwan, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan.
Leader of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky The U.S. president struggled to persuade Asian nations to lend support at his peace summit in Switzerland earlier this month, and Putin this week signed a defense pact with North Korea while warning that he reserves the right to arm American adversaries around the world.
The club had just five members for several years, but in January it was expanded to include Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt, an effort largely led by China as it seeks to increase its influence on the global stage.
Indonesia, another Southeast Asian country, was also considered a favourite to join the organisation last year, but President Joko Widodo indicated he would not rush into a decision.
Long-term American foe
Still, the pace of adding new members has continued. Despite US and European efforts to prevent countries from aligning with Moscow, representatives of 12 non-member countries attended the BRICS talks held in Russia this month. These included old US foes such as Cuba and Venezuela, but also Turkey, Laos, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan.
Also present was Vietnam, which last year improved ties with Washington in a move seen as a counterweight to Beijing’s growing influence in the region. Hanoi is following the group’s progress with “keen interest,” state broadcaster Voice of Vietnam said last month.
“Vietnam is always ready to participate in and actively contribute to global and regional multilateral mechanisms,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Pham Thu Hang said at the time.
Vietnam welcomed the Russian leader this week, despite strong objections from the United States on the grounds that “no country should give Putin a platform to promote his aggressive war in Ukraine.” Vietnam and Russia have ties dating back to the Cold War and Soviet eras.
In a joint statement issued at the conclusion of their talks earlier this month, Russia welcomed Vietnam’s participation in the negotiations and said they would “continue to strengthen ties between the BRICS countries and developing countries, including Vietnam.”
It was unclear how much BRICS was involved in Putin’s closed-door talks in Vietnam, though the two countries pledged to boost defence and energy cooperation. China’s Li used his visit to Malaysia to deepen trade and economic ties and push forward the construction of key projects.
Cumbersome group
After this year’s expansion, BRICS plans to invite non-member countries to attend its next summit in October in the Russian city of Kazan. Hosting the event will give Moscow a chance to show the world that it is not completely isolated by Western opposition to the war in Ukraine.
“It’s no secret that Washington doesn’t like BRICS, particularly the membership of Iran and Russia,” said Scott Marcel, a former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Myanmar and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
At the same time, he said the larger the group becomes, the less likely it is to reach a consensus on key issues. “I believe Washington is probably not appreciative of Thailand and Malaysia’s move to join, but I don’t think there will be much resentment from it.”
A State Department official said the US was aware of the interest of Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in BRICS, adding that multilateral blocs should advance principles of the UN Charter such as respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The potential benefits of joining BRICS extend far beyond geopolitics.
$33 billion
The bloc’s members have agreed to amass $100 billion in foreign exchange reserves, which they can lend to each other during emergencies. The group has also set up the New Development Bank — a World Bank-model institution that has approved about $33 billion in loans mainly for water, transport and other infrastructure projects since it began operations in 2015.
This investment pool would be useful in Southeast Asia, where official growth is set to slow to $26 billion in fiscal 2022, according to a report released this month by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute.
Malaysia’s Saifuddin said another draw to membership is negative sentiment toward institutions such as the IMF, which promoted austerity measures that are sometimes blamed in the region for exacerbating the economic hardship caused by the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.
Washington has not stood by. It has strengthened security ties in the region on counterterrorism matters, and also with countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines, which are increasingly concerned about their disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. But as competition between the great powers intensifies everywhere, there is also recognition that the region needs to hedge its bets.
“The room for maneuver for smaller countries is getting smaller and smaller,” Ong Keng Yong, a former ASEAN secretary-general, said in an interview. “By joining organizations like BRICS, countries are signaling that they want to be friendly with all parties, not just the United States and its allies.”
