Vietnam and Philippines trust Japan. Why doesn’t Indonesia?

For Southeast Asia, trust in Japan runs deepest where China presses hardest and breaks down where neutrality is a point of pride.

Analysts say that dynamic, revealed in an annual survey released earlier this month, explains why Vietnam and the Philippines both see the East Asian nation as a trusted partner while Indonesia, a country that has long prized non-alignment, is uncomfortable with Tokyo’s deepening embrace of Washington.

Across all 11 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, trust in Japan outweighed distrust. Yet public opinion took a turn in Indonesia, as confidence slid from 61.5 per cent in 2025 to 47.9 per cent this year.

Analysts say the strength of Japan’s standing in Vietnam and the Philippines, in particular, reflects the reality on the water. Both countries face direct Chinese pressure in the South China Sea – Manila through vessel clashes and maritime friction, Hanoi through strategic resource blockades – and both have come to regard Japan as a security partner that delivers without demanding anything in return.