"It is being built through food systems, satellites, aircraft, universities, finance, culture, infrastructure, data centres, business networks" [data centres]
The enumeration of non-military, non-trade vectors — including data centres and satellites — directly supports the claim that influence competition is being prosecuted through civilian infrastructure layers.
Reasoning from this article
The article argues that the standard geopolitical framing (security threat vs. trade opportunity) misses the deeper structural reality: China's regional presence is being embedded through everyday systems that predate and outlast any single policy initiative. This generalises beyond China-ASEAN: any rising power seeking durable regional influence will increasingly route that influence through civilian infrastructure, technology ecosystems, and cultural networks rather than purely through military posture or bilateral trade deals, making the competition structurally stickier and harder to reverse.