Welcome to Listicco! 🎉 Now cast your vote below
Leaders Best at Staying Friends With America and China
As Washington and Beijing bargain again, these leaders are still extracting value from both.
1.
Narendra Modi — India
Modi buys Russian oil, courts American technology and keeps dialogue with Beijing open, using India's scale to avoid dependence on either superpower.
2
2.
Prabowo Subianto — Indonesia
Prabowo treats the United States and China as useful partners rather than identities Indonesia must adopt, continuing Jakarta's preference for strategic autonomy.
2
3.
Mohammed bin Salman — Saudi Arabia
Mohammed bin Salman relies on American security but welcomes Chinese investment, technology and energy demand, forcing both powers to compete for Saudi cooperation.
1
4.
Mohammed bin Zayed — United Arab Emirates
Mohammed bin Zayed has turned strategic ambiguity into a business model, buying American weapons while expanding Emirati trade and technology ties with China.
1
5.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — Brazil
Lula favors a multipolar order and closer BRICS ties, yet keeps Washington engaged because Brazilian trade and climate goals require both relationships.
1
6.
Cyril Ramaphosa — South Africa
Ramaphosa absorbs pressure from both sides and rarely grants either a clean diplomatic victory, though South Africa's economic weakness limits the strategy.
1
7.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — Philippines
Marcos moved the Philippines sharply toward Washington on security while trying to prevent maritime disputes from destroying trade with China.
1
8.
Lawrence Wong — Singapore
Wong inherits Singapore's disciplined balance: host American forces, trade heavily with China and refuse the easy slogans demanded by both camps.
1
9.
To Lam — Vietnam
Tô Lâm combines resistance to Chinese pressure with party-to-party ties and expanding American commerce, using Vietnam's manufacturing rise as leverage.
1
10.
Anwar Ibrahim — Malaysia
Anwar criticizes Western policy when Malaysian opinion demands it while keeping American security ties and Chinese trade relationships practical.
0
▲ Ranked by community votes11 total votes