China's strengths in SE Asia to stay

Beijing's presence in Southeast Asia is insulated from the United States' apparent renewal of interest in the region, experts said.

The reaction from experts was made after Kurt Campbell, the US assistant state secretary for East Asia and the Pacific, said last week that US President Barack Obama plans to invite all 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the US next year in a move to strengthen their relations.

The invitation will be an unprecedented one for a US president. A US-ASEAN meeting was first planned in 2007 in Singapore, but then US president George W. Bush canceled at the last minute due to a busy agenda.