China and the United States engage in different ways with other countries. China knows what ASEAN member states really want, while the U.S. maintains the notion of “America first.” It’s only natural for ASEAN leaders to act in their national self-interest.

With the Winter Olympics bringing the world’s eyes to China, it seems that the stage is set for a major year of confrontation between rising China and the U.S., competing with rival benefit packages to draw third-parties away from their opponent.

Cambodia’s close relationship with China has become a model for what it can look like when a nation stays in Beijing’s good graces. Now, its Prime Minister is ascending to lead ASEAN in 2022, setting the stage for a potentially dramatic turn of events in the region, whose members diverge on their feelings towards China’s influence.

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen will assume leadership of ASEAN this year, and bring with him a positive attitude towards China and a recent history of disengagement with the West. Observers expect that the regional organization’s agenda will turn away from topics that will directly challenge China’s influence over Southeast Asia.

The RCEP is the largest free trade agreement in global history - but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be smooth sailing for China and its partners in Southeast Asia.

ASEAN is the crossroads of the Pacific, and one of the world’s most strategically valuable trade routes. Their high volume of trade with both the U.S. and China put them at the intersection of something else - the escalating struggle between the two superpowers for global supremacy.

The United States has been unsuccessful in its attempts to rally Southeast Asia against China. In recent months, it has mounted a transparent effort to curry favor in the region. But nobody wants to choose between major trading powers. They’d rather keep their options open.

The idea that ASEAN countries rely on the U.S. for security and on China for economy may be overstated. What is true is that they benefit from cooperation with China under the principle of mutual benefit and reciprocity, and they don’t want to rock the boat.

China recently initiated a wave of diplomatic courtship of ASEAN nations, as both sides work to navigate the reality of China’s resurgent gravity in the Pacfic region.

Southeast Asia’s coalition of small-to-medium sized nations have hosted superpower conflicts, yet they are overshadowed by larger regional powers on the global stage time and time again. American leadership will struggle to find welcoming allies there without a drastic upgrade in its dealings with ASEAN member nations.