It won the battle of the comminiqué, but it may have lost 20 years of painstakingly accumulated goodwill, the result of efforts such as the ASEAN-China free-trade agreement, signed in November 2002. More importantly, China’s previous leaders had calculated that a strong and unified ASEAN provided a valuable buffer against any possible US containment strategy.
中国的胜利是得不偿失的。她赢得了在东盟联合公报上的斗争，却可能失去了20年苦心经营积累下来的善意——也正是它们促成了2002年11月签订的东盟-中国自由贸易协定。更重要的是，中国过去几任领导人都认为一个强大统一的东盟能够为中国提供宝贵的缓冲空间去抗衡美国有可能采取的遏制战略。如今因为东盟的分裂，中国为美国提供了最好的机会去实施地缘政治手段。如果邓小平在世，估计会对此忧虑不已。