{"id":2525,"date":"2025-09-30T09:42:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=2525"},"modified":"2025-09-30T09:42:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:42:42","slug":"aseans-plan-to-counter-trumps-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=2525","title":{"rendered":"ASEAN&#8217;s Plan to Counter Trump&#8217;s Tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<p>Welcome to <em>Foreign Policy<\/em>\u2019s Southeast Asia Brief.<\/p>\n<p>The highlights this week: ASEAN plans for an <strong>economic future<\/strong> beyond the United States, Thailand and Cambodia <strong>exchange their first shots<\/strong> since a July cease-fire, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto speaks out on <strong>Gaza at UNGA<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-fallback\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">\n                                    If you would like to receive Southeast Asia Brief, please sign up<br \/>\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/category\/southeast-asia-brief\/\">here<\/a>.<br \/>\n                                <\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<form data-shortcode-newsletter=\"southeast_asia_brief\" class=\"newsletter-unit-signup newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode email-capture--step-1 newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-southeast_asia_brief\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-southeast_asia_brief newsletter-shortcode-southeast_asia_brief\">\n<div class=\"show-on-email-capture--signed-up hide-from-newsletter-subscriber newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode--container\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit newsletter-row\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-southeast_asia_brief\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">A weekly dispatch on the politics, economics, and culture of a pivotal region, caught between China and the United States but still going its own way. Written by Jakarta-based journalist <b>Joseph Rachman<\/b>. <\/h2>\n<p>\n                        <button class=\"button\">Sign Up<\/button>\n                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"grid--flex newsletter-southeast_asia_brief newsletter-signup-container\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Southeast Asia Brief sign up form\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"buttons\">\n<div class=\"hide-from-newsletter-subscriber privacy-policy-container\">\n<div class=\"privacy-policy-acknowledge\">\n<p><small>By submitting your email, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/privacy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/termsofuse\/\" target=\"_blank\">Terms of Use<\/a> and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n    <label for=\"email-southeast_asia_brief\">Enter your email<\/label><br \/>\n    <input type=\"email\" name=\"email\" class=\"hide-from-reg hide-from-sub\" id=\"email-southeast_asia_brief\" aria-required=\"true\" required=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <button class=\"button button--signup \" data-newsletter-id=\"southeast_asia_brief\" data-sourceid=\"In-article unit\" type=\"submit\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"sign-up-text\">Sign Up<\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"loading-text\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button>\n  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>ASEAN\u2019s Post-American Plan<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/07\/30\/trump-tariffs-trade-deals-august-1-deadline\/\">Another day, another tariff<\/a>. On Sept. 25, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his latest round of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/crkjreprp3po\">tariffs<\/a>, encompassing a slightly strange grab bag of categories: pharmaceuticals, furniture, sinks, and heavy trucks. Calculating the exact value of ASEAN exports that fall in these buckets is hard. But some very rough calculations by me based on data from the Organisation of Economic Complexity comes up with a figure likely a little under $25bn.<\/p>\n<p>For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an organization spanning <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/04\/07\/trump-tariffs-asean-southeast-asia-free-trade\/\">the world\u2019s most trade-dependent region<\/a>\u2014and which counts the United States as its second-biggest export <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aseanstats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/AKF2024.v1.pdf\">market<\/a> after China\u2014this trade-policy Russian roulette is not something that it can take lightly.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, ASEAN\u2019s economic ministers met in Kuala Lumpur. Behind the typically measured-to-the-point-of-mealy-mouthed <a href=\"https:\/\/asean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/24.-Joint-Media-Statement-AEM-57-adopted.pdf\">statements<\/a> expressing \u201cconcern over the growing trend of protectionism and the rise of unilateral trade measures\u201d was a quiet plan. ASEAN is now preparing for a trading future that does not rely on the United States.<\/p>\n<p>As one well-placed person involved in shaping ASEAN\u2019s stance on the matter put it to me, the United States accounts for about 13 percent of global trade, and if it defected from the current international trading system, that would hurt. But, this person said, ASEAN will be fine so long as it can keep the old rules going with the other 87 percent of the world.<\/p>\n<p>Looking at the documents coming out of last week\u2019s conference, we can see two prongs to this approach. The first involves deepening ASEAN economic <a href=\"https:\/\/theedgemalaysia.com\/node\/771228\">integration<\/a>. A loose affair compared to the European Union\u2019s single market, there\u2019s a lot of low-hanging fruit that the bloc can pick. Moves to integrate customs, ease trade in goods and services, open more sectors for investment, and integrate digital markets are on the table.<\/p>\n<p>It sounds dry, but every little bit helps. Moves on customs are particularly important. A line in the ASEAN media <a href=\"https:\/\/asean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/24.-Joint-Media-Statement-AEM-57-adopted.pdf\">statement<\/a> about combating origin fraud suggests a push by the bloc to coordinate in handling additional U.S. tariffs on goods that are <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/09\/16\/vietnam-trump-tariffs-trade-deal-exports-growth\/\">\u201ctransshipped\u201d from China<\/a>. As we\u2019ve covered in this newsletter previously, with the Trump administration less than clear on what this provision actually means, many worry it could strangle ASEAN\u2019s industrial base, which relies heavily on Chinese inputs.<\/p>\n<p>The second prong is building ties with the rest of the world. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)\u2014a trade deal spanning 15 signatories, including all 10 ASEAN members as well as China, Japan, and South Korea, and which came into effect in 2022\u2014is <a href=\"https:\/\/eastasiaforum.org\/2024\/09\/15\/asean-needs-to-reclaim-rcep-for-regional-economic-leadership\/\">central<\/a> to this effort. There are plans to speed up its implementation and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2025\/09\/26\/asean-led-rcep-may-welcome-sri-lanka-hong-kong-chile-and-bangladesh\">expand<\/a> it to include Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Chile, and Bangladesh.<\/p>\n<p>A slew of other agreements is in the air. A trade deal with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2025-09-26\/carney-to-attend-asean-summit-as-canada-seeks-trade-deal-in-2026\">Canada<\/a> should conclude by the end of 2026. An upgrade to ASEAN\u2019s trade deal with <a href=\"https:\/\/asean.bernama.com\/news.php?id=2470797\">China<\/a> will be signed next month. An upgrade to the deal with <a href=\"https:\/\/asean.bernama.com\/news.php?id=2471155\">India<\/a> is being worked on, and talks to bolster the existing deal with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com.my\/news\/nation\/2025\/09\/24\/asean-korea-free-trade-agreement-to-be-upgraded-says-zafrul\">South Korea<\/a> will kick off soon. And down the line, agreements with the Persian Gulf states are also being looked at.<\/p>\n<p>All this will take time. ASEAN\u2019s most recent trade agreement, the aforementioned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adb.org\/publications\/rcep-agreement-new-paradigm-asian-cooperation\">RCEP<\/a>, took about a decade to build. And even the bloc\u2019s most recent bilateral agreement with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tid.gov.hk\/en\/our_work\/trade_and_investment_agreements\/ftas\/hkasean.html\">Hong Kong<\/a> took more than three years of negotiations. But the intent is there, and Trump\u2019s tariffs add urgency.<\/p>\n<p>ASEAN countries are already pushing for progress individually. On Sept. 23 and 26, Indonesia signed trade deals with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/commodities\/indonesia-eu-sign-substantive-conclusion-trade-deal-2025-09-23\/\">EU<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/jakartaglobe.id\/business\/canada-to-remove-tariffs-on-over-90-of-indonesian-products-under-landmark-trade-deal\">Canada<\/a> respectively, both hurried over the line in the response to U.S. tariffs. The EU is also hoping for <a href=\"https:\/\/thediplomat.com\/2025\/09\/eu-expects-to-finalize-trade-pacts-with-philippines-thailand-malaysia-in-2026\/\">agreements<\/a> with Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand next year.<\/p>\n<p>This doesn\u2019t mean that the United States is irrelevant. Various ASEAN countries made concessions worth, theoretically, billions of dollars <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/07\/16\/us-vietnam-trade-deal-trump-tariffs\/\">just to get bad trade deals with<\/a> Trump over the summer. But while Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, can saber-rattle at the ASEAN conference about making <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/week-asia\/economics\/article\/3326886\/washington-southeast-asian-chipmakers-shift-production-us-or-face-tariff-solution\">semiconductors<\/a> in the United States, Vietnamese companies are still <a href=\"https:\/\/asia.nikkei.com\/business\/tech\/semiconductors\/vietnam-s-fpt-eyes-opening-its-first-chip-assembly-plant\">pushing<\/a> to do it at home.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>What We\u2019re Watching<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Shots fired on Thai-Cambodian border. <\/strong>The cease-fire between Thailand and Cambodia is under strain after an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/asia\/se-asia\/thai-cambodian-troops-clash-in-first-breach-of-ceasefire-agreed-to-in-august\">exchange<\/a> of fire along the border on Sept.. 27. Thailand said it had incurred no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationthailand.com\/news\/general\/40056014\">casualties<\/a>, while Cambodia <a href=\"https:\/\/cambojanews.com\/thai-military-launches-30-minute-attack-in-an-ses-area-in-preah-vihear\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNEzkNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHmooJULAvYVT11bTI4MpWMZUfX3tZd2DfTiE_Fat3NH2Oy_Fn-ibg99uhOUm_aem_C5nfUzd2GWUbDzAwDupWjQ\">declined<\/a> to comment. This area is the site of the border <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/07\/30\/world\/asia\/thailand-cambodia-temples.html\">dispute<\/a> that sparked <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/07\/29\/cambodia-thailand-border-conflict-dispute-war-ceasefire\/\">a brief war in late July,<\/a> and the area saw some of the fiercest fighting in that period.<\/p>\n<p>Facts are unclear, with both sides accusing the other of shooting first. Cambodia\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/cambojanews.com\/thai-military-launches-30-minute-attack-in-an-ses-area-in-preah-vihear\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNEzkNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHmooJULAvYVT11bTI4MpWMZUfX3tZd2DfTiE_Fat3NH2Oy_Fn-ibg99uhOUm_aem_C5nfUzd2GWUbDzAwDupWjQ\">account<\/a>, from a Defense Ministry spokeswoman, is that Thai forces fired on Cambodian positions and Cambodia did not retaliate. The Thai <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/thailand\/general\/3111725\/cambodia-accused-of-provoking-brief-border-clash\">account<\/a>, given by an army spokesperson, is that Cambodian soldiers fired on Thai troops. The spokesperson later posted on X saying that a task force in the area had \u201cordered retaliatory fire as needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In speeches to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), both sides have since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationthailand.com\/blogs\/news\/asean\/40056034\">accused<\/a> each other of <a href=\"https:\/\/world.thaipbs.or.th\/detail\/cambodia-accuses-thailand-of-undermining-the-ceasefire-at-un\/59024\">provocations<\/a>. Cambodia\u2019s former leader and power behind the throne Hun Sen has called for ASEAN observers led by Malaysia to lead an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.phnompenhpost.com\/national\/hun-sen-suggests-malaysia-lead-investigation-into-today-s-ceasefire-violation\">investigation<\/a> into the cease-fire violation. The Thai military has further <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationthailand.com\/news\/general\/40055916\">accused<\/a> Cambodia of staging the incident to provoke Thai retaliation ahead a scheduled visit by ASEAN cease-fire observers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Indonesia speaks out on Gaza at UNGA.<\/strong> Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto spoke out on the Israel-Hamas conflict at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City last week. Of the nine representatives of ASEAN nations that spoke during UNGA\u2019s high-level week, seven raised the issue of Gaza,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2023\/12\/29\/gaza-israel-hamas-war-southeast-asia\/\">a big issue for many publics in the region<\/a>. (The exceptions were Cambodia and Thailand.)<\/p>\n<p>Prabowo reiterated Indonesia\u2019s support for a two-state solution, but some interpreted a comment that any settlement would need to guarantee Israel\u2019s security as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/indonesia-to-israel-shalom-99f007ef\">softening<\/a> of Indonesia\u2019s line. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kompas.id\/artikel\/en-netanyahu-puji-pidato-prabowo-tetapi-salahkan-dunia\">praised<\/a> Prabowo\u2019s speech, which also included an offer of 20,000 Indonesian soldiers as peacekeepers in \u201cin Gaza or elsewhere\u2014in Ukraine, in Sudan, in Libya.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, Indonesia\u2019s foreign minister quickly emphasized that Indonesia\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jatim.antaranews.com\/berita\/980629\/indonesia-reaffirms-palestine-recognition-amid-netanyahu-remarks\">stance<\/a>\u00a0still prioritizes Palestine\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n<p><strong>U.N. meeting on Rohingya.<\/strong> Myanmar was the only ASEAN country not to address the General Assembly. However, the country will feature in a \u201cHigh-level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar\u201d on Tuesday. The spearhead of this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/civil-society\/high-level-conference-situation-rohingya-muslims-and-other-minorities-myanmar\">conference<\/a>, based on an UNGA resolution passed in March, is <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2024\/09\/11\/bangladesh-rohingya-resettlement-muhammad-yunus-unga\/\">Bangladesh, which hosts an estimated 1 million Rohingya refugees<\/a> who have <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2024\/11\/04\/myanmar-bangladesh-rohingya-refugees-military-arakan-army\/\">fled genocide in Myanmar.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While speaking at UNGA, Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/en\/asia-pacific\/bangladeshs-interim-leader-seeks-donors-help-at-un-to-avert-disaster-in-rohingya-camps\/3700380\">warned<\/a> of disaster for Rohingya refugees hosted in Cox\u2019s Bazar, a district in southeastern Bangladesh, unless more aid is provided.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout urgent new funding, the monthly ration may have to be halved to a paltry $6 per person,\u201d Yunus said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vietnam\u2019s leader to visit North Korea.<\/strong> Vietnam\u2019s leader, Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, will visit North Korea in October, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/china\/vietnams-top-leader-pay-rare-visit-north-korea-october-sources-say-2025-09-25\/\">Reuters<\/a>. (This has yet to be officially confirmed.) Such a trip would be the first visit by a Vietnamese leader to North Korea since General Secretary Nong Duc Manh traveled there in 2007. The visit would come on the heels of Lam\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/south-korea-vietnam-leaders-pledge-closer-ties-us-tariffs-shake-up-trade-2025-08-11\/\">August<\/a> visit to South Korea, \u00a0where he signed agreements to boost trade and purchase weapons.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being fellow communist countries, Vietnam and North Korea have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eastwestcenter.org\/publications\/close-allies-distant-comrades-ups-and-downs-vietnam-north-korea-relationship\">complex<\/a> relationship. Allied during the Vietnam War, relations declined sharply afterward when North Korea opposed Vietnam\u2019s invasion of Cambodia. The relationship revived but remained limited from the 1990s on. The involvement of a Vietnamese national in the <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2017\/02\/15\/theres-no-such-thing-as-an-ordinary-north-korean-aristocrat\/\">2017 assassination of Kim Jong Un\u2019s brother<\/a> caused a serious breach, though North Korea <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chosun.com\/english\/north-korea-en\/2018\/12\/12\/GHEGPOYFWXDWADLBQPWFO523AA\/\">apologized<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, North Korea has launched a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.38north.org\/2025\/08\/assessing-north-korea-southeast-asias-diplomatic-renewal\/#_ftn1\">diplomatic<\/a> push in Southeast Asia. Kim visited Vietnam in 2019, and Vietnam is the only Southeast Asian state to have sent multiple delegations on official visits to Pyongyang since it reopened its borders in 2024.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>Photo of the Week<\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_1207954\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone none\">            <span style=\"padding-bottom:66.69921875%;&#10;        \" class=\"image-attachment -ratioscale\"><br \/>\n        <br \/>\n        <\/span><figcaption style=\"height:0;opacity:0;\">Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (right, front seat) waves from an open-top car owned and driven by Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta as Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao (left, backseat) looks on, in Dili, East Timor, on Sept. 23.<\/figcaption><p id=\"caption-attachment-1207954\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (right, front seat) waves from an open-top car owned and driven by Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta as Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao (left, backseat) looks on, in Dili, East Timor, on Sept. 23.<span class=\"attribution\">Valentino Dariell De Sousa\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span> <!-- caption placeholder --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>FP\u2019s Most Read This Week<\/h3>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>What We\u2019re Reading<\/h3>\n<p>An expensive free school meals program is Prabowo\u2019s signature policy. But repeated food poisoning scandals are taking the shine off. Pathoni Syamsudin explores the issue in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thejakartapost.com\/opinion\/2025\/09\/24\/free-meals-program-is-feeding-children-but-also-making-them-sick.html\">the Jakarta Post<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the perspective of Malaysian leaders, the more benign power and trusted partner today is not the United States, but China,\u201d writes Murni Abdul Hamid for <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lowyinstitute.org\/the-interpreter\/evolution-malaysian-foreign-policy\">the Interpreter<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/4f076672-789b-4b8a-9784-c83d84573798\">Financial Times\u2019<\/a><\/em> Ruchir Sharma writes about how Southeast Asian economies risk drift and failure. His scathing indictment of Prabowo\u2019s policy in Indonesia made the rounds of local financial groups.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuterte would always say: \u2018If I need to kill you, I will kill you for the safety of most of the people of this country,\u2019 and that is my view also.\u201d With former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte facing a trial in the International Criminal Court, Kate Lamb and Mores Heramis with <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/sep\/25\/philippines-manila-death-squad-members-unrepentant-rodrigo-duterte-icc-trial-ntwnfb\">The Guardian<\/a><\/em> interview former members of the death squads mobilized during Duterte\u2019s drug war.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>In Focus<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Vietnam\u2019s LGBT backlash.<\/strong> Just three countries in Asia allow same-sex marriage: Taiwan, Nepal, and Thailand, with the latter only legalizing it in January. For a while, Vietnam seemed likely to beat Thailand to the punch. Now, though, the tides seem to have shifted, with <a href=\"https:\/\/asia.nikkei.com\/spotlight\/society\/vietnam-scraps-lgbt-events-after-years-of-expanding-rights\">reports<\/a> emerging that various events for Pride, which Vietnam celebrates in September, have been shut down at the last minute. A nervousness around potential protest and a wave of nationalist sentiment may be to blame.<\/p>\n<p>Vietnam has seen public policy shift <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/18681034221108748\">quickly<\/a> on LGBT rights. Previously uninterested, in the 1990s, the government began cracking down on so-called \u201csocial evils,\u201d including homosexuality, as the AIDS epidemic spread to Vietnam. In 2000, the country formally banned same-sex marriage. However, in 2014, this criminalization was repealed, and many hoped that more was to come.<\/p>\n<p>Social attitudes have also moved fast. A 2013 poll found that <a href=\"https:\/\/law.unimelb.edu.au\/__data\/assets\/pdf_file\/0011\/3966293\/Tran_Thi-Quyen.pdf\">only<\/a> 33.7 percent of Vietnamese respondents supported same-sex marriage. But in 2023, Pew Research Center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2023\/11\/27\/across-asia-views-of-same-sex-marriage-vary-widely\/\">polling<\/a> found that 65 percent of Vietnamese respondents supported the right to same-sex marriage\u2014actually slightly higher than Thailand\u2019s 60 percent.<\/p>\n<p>This month some saw troubling signs that official attitudes were becoming less tolerant. In a Facebook <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/19x9C9Q7Ca\/\">post<\/a>, VietPride said that \u201cmany events could not take place as planned due to constraints in organizing conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Government tolerance for any sort of activism seems to be shrinking. Reimposition of <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2019\/02\/27\/vietnam-wants-western-politicians-not-western-politics\/\">\u00a0political orthodoxy by the Vietnamese government<\/a> has been the game for a few years now. New <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2018\/06\/viet-nam-cybersecurity-law-devastating-blow-freedom-of-expression\/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThis%20decision%20has%20potentially%20devastating,government%20on%20this%20regressive%20legislation.%E2%80%9D&amp;text=Viet%20Nam%27s%20new%20Cybersecurity%20Law,exert%20pressure%20on%20Vietnam%27s%20government.\">cybersecurity<\/a> laws and tighter controls on foreign funding of <a href=\"https:\/\/spcommreports.ohchr.org\/TMResultsBase\/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26885\">nongovernmental organizations<\/a> make life harder. And there is an increasingly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/world-nation\/story\/2025-06-08\/how-cali-became-a-slur-among-vietnams-growing-army-of-nationalist-trolls\">nationalist<\/a> tenor in parts of public discourse.<\/p>\n<p>This sort of sentiment seems to be bad news for LGBT groups in Vietnam, which are seen with a suspicion of dissent and nonstate activism. This is especially so if they seem somehow foreign-tinged.<\/p>\n<p>LGBT groups have long been suspected of acting as Trojan horses for foreign influence and anti-government agitation. Activists lobbying the government for repeal of the ban on same-sex marriage in the early 2010s deliberately shaped their <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/18681034221108748\">approach<\/a> to avoid any hint that they were opposed to the government or foreign in their ideas.<\/p>\n<p>Some now suggest a change of tack from activists might be needed. The success in 2014 came from helping LGBT people fit into the government agenda. So, some ask, could <a href=\"https:\/\/fulcrum.sg\/marriage-equality-could-vietnam-be-next\/\">success<\/a> be found in in arguing that same-sex marriage fits with the \u201cera of national rise\u201d the government is promoting?<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly enough, even if such tactics do find success, Vietnam would not be the first dictatorship\u2014or even the first communist state\u2014to legalize same-sex marriage. That honor belongs to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/9\/26\/cuba-overwhelmingly-approves-same-sex-marriage-in-referendum\">Cuba<\/a>, which took the step in 2022.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/09\/30\/asean-economic-plan-trump-tariffs\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to Foreign Policy\u2019s Southeast Asia Brief. The highlights this week: ASEAN plans for an economic future beyond the United States, Thailand and Cambodia exchange their first shots since a July cease-fire, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto speaks out on Gaza at UNGA. If you would like to receive Southeast Asia Brief, please sign up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politcical-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}