While longtime allies Japan and Australia joined the US in criticizing China’s response, other security partners in the region stayed quiet. South Korea’s leader snubbed Pelosi after the visit, India hasn’t said a word and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations rushed to reaffirm that they only recognize One China — a basic framework that Beijing requires for diplomatic relations, although interpretations vary across nations.

“Most Southeast Asian countries will view the United States as having provoked China’s entirely predictable overreaction,” said Shahriman Lockman, a director at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Malaysia. “The lesson for Asean members here is that you will have to continuously hedge your bets. There is no telling whose actions might precipitate the next crisis in US-China relations.”

Since taking office, President Joe Biden has sought to build a broad coalition in Asia to push back against Chinese overreach, in part, by telling smaller economies they don’t need to pick sides. That marked a stark contrast with the Trump administration, which pressured countries in the region to ban Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co. and take other steps that would effectively force them to choose between the world’s biggest economies.