Face-to-face diplomacy gives China the edge in Southeast Asia
Ben Bland is the director of the Southeast Asia program at the Lowy Institute and the author of "Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia."
Calling China's pre-COVID-19 diplomacy in Southeast Asia sharp-elbowed is something of an understatement.
But since the pandemic broke out, Beijing's top diplomats have combined their uncompromising stance with some more tactful body language, standing elbow to elbow with their Southeast Asian neighbors in a remarkable series of flying visits
