ASIA POLICYMAKERS PUSH "STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY" AMID U.S.-CHINA RIVALRY

Asian policymakers, investors and business leaders said countries in the region are seeking greater "strategic flexibility" as U.S.-China rivalry becomes a long-term operating condition for governments and companies, according to Reuters. The comments came at the Reuters NEXT Asia event in Singapore, where speakers described a shift away from binary alignment and toward pragmatic partnerships, supply-chain resilience and deeper domestic-market capacity.

Thai Vice Finance Minister Santitarn Sathirathai said Thailand's approach would be guided by national interest and the quality of investment rather than pressure to align fully with Washington or Beijing, according to Reuters. He said Thailand is looking for partnerships that bring technology transfer, jobs and stronger supply chains, reflecting a wider regional preference for practical economic outcomes over rigid geopolitical positioning.

Reuters reported that investors at the event framed geopolitical rivalry as a source of both risk and opportunity. Clara Chan, chief executive of the Hong Kong Investment Corporation, said policy clarity and long-term vision were important for capital allocation, while Temasek's Rohit Sipahimalani emphasized resilience through domestic markets and autonomous technologies.

The discussion reflected the growing pressure on Asian economies caught between U.S. security influence and China's trade, investment and manufacturing weight. Reuters reported that speakers said companies are increasingly designing supply chains around redundancy, localization and regional diversification rather than assuming that U.S.-China tensions will fade.

Private-equity and asset-management leaders also pointed to Asia's internal growth as a buffer against geopolitical disruption, according to Reuters. Goldman Sachs and Primavera Capital representatives said the region's large consumer base, manufacturing capacity and rising middle class continue to make Asia a major driver of global growth even during periods of strategic competition.

The same Reuters NEXT Asia forum also highlighted investor caution around artificial intelligence. Reuters reported that Asian investors are seeking companies that benefit from AI while remaining resilient to disruption, with Temasek aiming to increase AI exposure from 6% to 15% over five years and other investors focusing on data centers, liquid cooling and hard-asset businesses rather than only front-end AI applications.

Those AI comments overlap with the broader strategic-flexibility theme because technology supply chains are now central to U.S.-China competition. Reuters reported that investors and policymakers are weighing semiconductor access, data-center demand, export controls, critical minerals, domestic industrial policy and geopolitical alignment as connected parts of the same investment landscape.

Sovereign wealth funds are also shifting toward national strategic priorities, according to a Reuters report on an IE University study. The study found that sovereign funds managing more than $15 trillion are increasingly investing in areas such as domestic infrastructure, artificial intelligence and semiconductors, with total spending up 91% to $404 billion across 391 deals.

The immediate question is whether Asian governments can preserve enough room to work with both the United States and China while protecting supply chains, technology access and domestic industries. Reuters reported that the message from the Singapore event was not neutrality, but flexibility: governments and investors are preparing for a world in which geopolitical rivalry persists and economic strategy has to be built around it.

Fact-check date: 10 July 2026
Article type: News
Sources: Reuters, Reuters NEXT Asia, IE University study reported by Reuters