China's Belt and Road Initiative in Context

I think BRI is basically a good thing for Southeast Asian countries' infrastructure development, so they want to cooperate with the Chinese government. But if the U.S. tried to take a competitive approach toward the Chinese BRI, that wouldn't be good for Southeast Asian countries because they are afraid of being in the middle of great power politics. This fear is derived from their experiences before and during the Cold War when great powers' intervention in Southeast Asia infringed on the regional political autonomy.

Also, there is a negative side to BRI itself. For example, Indonesia has the Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway project, which was conducted by the Chinese, but because the bankability and feasibility were very low, the project has been stalled for a long time. This type of implementation problem persists in the BRI projects and demonstrates a negative side of Chinese investment. Southeast Asian countries welcome the financial aid, but at the same time want to ensure that the projects are actually realized.

The report says that the United States is going to have a more coordinated policy toward BRI, which would be good for Southeast Asian countries as long as the U.S. cooperates with China and China adheres to the same principles and guidelines as the United States and Japan do. If properly executed, I think Southeast Asian countries are more assured that it's not going to end up as a completely competitive strategy, which is good for Southeast Asian countries.