International media: Vietnam is helping ASEAN become a new pole of power
While Vietnamese media focused on the scale and activities of the ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) 2026 in Hanoi on June 9-10, international media paid special attention to a larger message: Vietnam is pushing ASEAN to move from a position of 'adapting to the world' to 'shaping the world'.
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From major news agencies such as Xinhua, Reuters, Bernama to regional newspapers like The Bangkok Post, China Daily..., the common approach is to view AFF 2026 not merely as a dialogue forum, but as Vietnam's effort to build a new strategic planning space for ASEAN in the context of a rapidly changing international order.
"ASEAN must not only participate in the game but help write the rules"
This is the message that appears most frequently in international media.
Xinhua published an article titled: “Vietnamese PM urges ASEAN to take greater role in shaping global norms.”
According to Xinhua, the most important statement by Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng was a call for ASEAN to move beyond its role as a participant in global trends to become a force that contributes to creating those trends. He emphasized that ASEAN needs to become a dialogue center, a convergence point for cooperation, and an anchor of trust in an increasingly polarized world.
China Daily also took a similar approach in its article “Stronger ASEAN role stressed at forum.” The newspaper stated that the overarching message of AFF 2026 is that ASEAN must participate more strongly in building new international norms, rules, and cooperation frameworks instead of merely reacting to global developments.
Many observers cited by international media noted that this is one of the strongest statements by a Vietnamese leader on the future role of ASEAN since the bloc announced the ASEAN Community Vision 2045.
From the Middle East crisis to the Thailand-Cambodia conflict
Another noteworthy point is that many foreign media outlets showed great interest in ASEAN's resilience to new crises.
China Daily especially emphasized the statement by ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, who said that developments in the Middle East are a clear warning about ASEAN's vulnerability to external shocks.
He mentioned the impact of the "5Fs" (fuel, food, fertilizer, finance, foreign workers), arguing that ASEAN's resilience is no longer measured solely by economic or military strength but must also include energy security, supply chains, financial systems, and the digital society.
This aligns with how Reuters views the current challenges facing ASEAN. In recent analyses of ASEAN meetings, Reuters argued that the Middle East crisis and the risk of energy supply disruptions have become top concerns for Southeast Asian countries, forcing ASEAN to enhance its crisis coordination capabilities and build common response mechanisms.
Additionally, one of the topics that attracted international media attention on the sidelines of AFF 2026 was the meeting and statements by the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia.
Xinhua published an article titled “Thai, Cambodian PMs urge peaceful, lasting solutions to border conflict,” emphasizing that Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet both used the third AFF in Hanoi to call for dialogue and peaceful solutions to the border dispute between the two countries.
For many regional news outlets, the appearance of both leaders in Hanoi and their signals of restraint was seen as one of the most notable political developments of AFF 2026.
Malaysian news agencies like Bernama and many other ASEAN newspapers also paid special attention to the theme of intra-bloc solidarity, viewing it as a prerequisite for ASEAN to maintain its central role in the context of increasingly fierce strategic competition among major powers.
Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng along with Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, and Timor-Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão attend the opening session of the third ASEAN Future Forum. Photo: VNA.
Vietnam’s forum is gradually becoming the “Davos of ASEAN”
Speaking to Tiền Phong reporters on June 10, several journalists and scholars from China, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia shared the opinion that AFF is developing beyond the framework of a Vietnamese diplomatic initiative. They compared AFF to the “Davos of ASEAN” model, as it is a place for discussing long-term strategic issues rather than just handling immediate agendas.
Many articles by ASEAN journalists recalled that the idea of AFF was first proposed by Vietnam at the 43rd ASEAN Summit in 2023 and within just three years has attracted hundreds of senior officials, scholars, businesses, and representatives of international organizations.
Diplomats and scholars interviewed by international media all assessed that the forum is becoming an increasingly influential policy dialogue platform in the region.
Notably, Chinese research circles assessed that AFF 2026 reflects Vietnam's increasingly proactive role in ASEAN. Professor Xu Liping from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences stated that strengthening ASEAN's unity and resilience is particularly important in a period of rising great-power competition, and he noted that the forum demonstrates Vietnam's increasingly constructive and guiding role in the region.
Overall, while AFF 2024 and AFF 2025 were mainly seen as a new dialogue initiative of Vietnam, AFF 2026 is being viewed by international media as a genuine regional strategic forum.
What impressed foreign media the most was not the number of delegates or diplomatic statements, but the overarching message from Hanoi: ASEAN needs to become an entity capable of shaping international norms and rules of play, rather than just adapting to decisions made elsewhere.
A screenshot of a Xinhua article about the third ASEAN Future Forum (screenshot)
