US-CHINA RIVALRY DOMINATES INDO-PACIFIC

The most important Asia-Pacific story is the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry, which is shaping regional security, trade, and economic governance. Competition is especially acute around maritime routes and chokepoints such as the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, Malacca, and Luzon, where control affects both military access and trade flows. Regional states are responding by strengthening security co-operation, supply-chain resilience, and energy coordination, while keeping conflict-avoidance channels open. The result is a more fragmented Indo-Pacific in which strategic competition, technology controls, and alliance management are now central to the region's outlook.