SEA: opinions on ASEAN's SCS response by country 2025| ��ƽ��

Opinions on how ASEAN should respond to the South China Sea (SCS) situation in Southeast Asia in 2025, by country

Characteristic	ASEAN cannot do anything because it lacks solidarity on this issue	ASEAN should support actions that would deter aggressive behavior such as by participating in joint military exercises	ASEAN should discourage non-claimants from getting involved in the SCS issue	ASEAN should take a principled stand that upholds international law, including UNCLOS, and respect the 2016 arbitral tribunal’s ruling	ASEAN should welcome military presence of other powers in the SCS	ASEAN should encourage claimant states to resolve tensions through bilateral negotiations
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Download

Source

Show detailed source information?

Already a member?

Source

Release date

April 2025

More information

Region

Asia, APAC

Survey time period

January 3 to February 15, 2025

Number of respondents

2,023 respondents

Special properties

among respondents from ten ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste. Respondents are professionals from the following categories: academia, think-tankers, or researchers; private sector representatives; civil society, non-government organizations (NGOs) or media representatives; government officials; and regional or international organizations' personnel

Method of interview

CAPI interview, questionnaire

Supplementary notes

Original question: "How should ASEAN respond to the SCS situation?"

ASEAN stands for Association of Southeast Asian Nations and is a political and economic union composed of the ten member states Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Results from respondents from Timor-Leste excluded in the aggregated averages as the country is not yet an ASEAN member state.

Respondent share by nationality for the overall statistic:

Brunei: n = 7.4%
Cambodia: n = 8.5%
Indonesia: n = 12.5%
Laos: n = 7.5%
Malaysia: n = 11.9%
Myanmar: n = 9.6%
Philippines: n = 10.2%
Singapore: n = 12%
Thailand: n = 9.7%
Vietnam: n = 7.7%

Citation formats

In a survey conducted in Southeast Asia in 2025, the highest share of respondents across ten ASEAN countries stated that ASEAN should take a principled stand on the South China Sea issue that upholds international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and respect the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling. More than ** percent of respondents in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam supported this response. In contrast, Southeast Asian respondents showed limited support for the presence of other powers' militaries in the South China Sea, making it the least favored option among survey choices.