Analysts warn the upgraded free trade pact will continue to allow cheap China-made goods to flood regional markets and hollow out ASEAN member economies.
The 2025 Association of Southeast Nations summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, pictured on Oct. 26, 2025. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times
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News Analysis
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have signed an upgraded free trade pact with Beijing, a significant move amid intensifying U.S.–China rivalry that experts warn could expose the bloc to “origin washing” penalties, industrial hollowing-out, and eroded economic sovereignty.
Jarvis Lim is a Taiwan-based writer focusing on human rights, U.S.–China relations, China’s economic and political influence in Southeast Asia, and cross-strait relations.
