Southeast

• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded a five‑day diplomatic tour of Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar on April 26, underscoring Beijing’s push to strengthen strategic partnerships across Southeast Asia amid intensifying great‑power competition. • Analysts quoted in regional reports said Wang’s visit aimed to counterbalance growing US influence by reinforcing economic and security cooperation, including support for infrastructure and connectivity projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. • Wang affirmed China’s commitment to ASEAN centrality in regional affairs and pledged continued dialogue on maritime disputes in the South China Sea, while also offering political backing to military‑backed governments such as Myanmar’s junta.

• Alpaca, platform API broker, menunjuk Rohit Mulani sebagai Presiden Asia Tenggara dan David Grant sebagai CEO Alpaca Singapore. • Penambahan kepemimpinan ini bertujuan untuk mempercepat pertumbuhan di sektor fintech dan perdagangan di kawasan tersebut. • Langkah ini memperkuat kehadiran Alpaca di tengah meningkatnya permintaan akan solusi perdagangan tertanam (embedded trading) di pasar ASEAN.

ByteDance is assembling high-end Nvidia chip clusters outside China, partnering with Southeast Asian firms for black-white computing systems in Malaysia to fuel AI development, reported March 13, 2026. The Wall Street Journal detailed efforts to bypass US export restrictions. This expansion supports TikTok parent’s global AI ambitions amid geopolitical tensions. US regulators monitor for compliance.