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Comment by pempem | Hacker News Reader

In most of the countries you've identified China has a strong toehold already.

not really. those neighbors have absolutely no trust in China. There is history too between these countries in Asia.

Fully agree that there is endless history inter and intra asia. As a 1st gen asian american let me assure you I am familiar with that reality.

This is 2019 Thailand:

According to a BoI report, investment applications from Chinese projects in the first nine months of this year amounted to 45 billion baht, up 100% from the same period last year, mainly from the rubber industry and tyre manufacturing.

Thailand advanced six notches to 21st out of 190 countries in the World Bank's 2020 Ease of Doing Business (EODB) rankings. - https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1782899/chinese-factory...

This is Malaysia in 2016: China is pouring huge money into Malaysia and most people have yet to bat an eye on the significance of this huge impact. In times of trouble, who is it that comes to support Malaysia? It is the Chinese. “This has led to Malaysia’s foreign bond holdings going back up to over 50% and also gave our ringgit some form of stability,” says Astramina Advisory Sdn Bhd managing director Wong Muh Rong. - https://archive.is/Ipbnu#selection-2839.0-2839.191

The reason for pulling old quotes is to show that this is a trend that has continued forward. I'd be happy to be wrong.

Politics isn't that simple. Not everyone in those countries feels the same way or is being paid by the same people. Even in HK where citizens regularly fill the streets to openly protest Chinese influence, the HK govt has many Chinese sympathizers who are trying to ensure the situation shakes out in China's favor.

This mirrors what happened in Thailand as well. While the younger generations (90s or after) want to see a better and fair politics, many people involving in politics nowadays are more likely to support Chinese influence (infrastructure, pandemic response, among others). In fact, when its embassy published an op-ed bashing Thai people for diminishing the efficiency of COVID-19 vaccine it supplied to Thailand, there are some Thai people who actually gave apology on behalf of the fellow Thais, despite their series implying that face masks from Thailand have a low quality.

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