Defining modernity in South

Defining modernity in South-East Asia
Mark Leonard welcomes LuHan Gabel, Ooi Kee Beng and Chelsea Nguyen to explore how younger generations in China, Malaysia and Vietnam are rethinking the meaning of modernity in a post-Western world
This week, Mark Leonard is joined by LuHan Gabel, associate director of the Ideas Workshop at the Open Society Foundations; Ooi Kee Beng, political historian and executive director of the Penang Institute; and Chelsea Nguyen, research assistant in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics.
LuHan highlights how young people in China are increasingly questioning the meaning of development and modernity beyond material progress. Kee Beng reflects on Malaysia’s complex relationship with China, arguing that their growing engagement is reconnecting South-East Asia to older historical patterns of regional interaction. Chelsea explains how, in Vietnam, attitudes towards China have shifted dramatically since the covid-19 pandemic, with young people becoming more curious about Chinese technology and society.
Together, Mark, LuHan, Kee Beng and Chelsea explore whether a post-Western, rather than anti-Western, generation is taking shape across the region. How did the covid-19 pandemic reshape perceptions of China in South-East Asia? Which aspects of Chinese modernity resonate most with younger generations? Is China becoming a new reference point for development and aspiration? And what do these shifts mean for Europe’s role in an increasingly multipolar world?
This podcast episode was recorded on July 10th 2026.
Bookshelf
A Maritime Vietnam: From Earliest Times to the Nineteenth Century, by Tana Li
State Building in Cold War Asia: Comrades and Competitors on the Sino-Vietnamese Border, by Qingfei Yin
Border Country, by Raymond Williams
The Scythian Empire: Central Eurasia and the Birth of the Classical Age from Persia to China, by Christopher I. Beckwith
Adrift in the South, by Xiao Hai

Facts Only

* Mark Leonard, LuHan Gabel, Ooi Kee Beng, and Chelsea Nguyen participated in an exploration.
* LuHan highlights young people in China question the meaning of development and modernity beyond material progress.
* Ooi Kee Beng reflects on Malaysia’s relationship with China, noting growing engagement reconnects South-East Asia to older historical patterns.
* Chelsea explains that Vietnamese attitudes toward China shifted dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing curiosity about Chinese technology and society among youth.
* The discussion explored whether a post-Western generation is forming across the region.
* Questions addressed included how COVID-19 reshaped perceptions of China in South-East Asia, what aspects of Chinese modernity resonate, if China is becoming a new development reference point, and implications for Europe’s role in a multipolar world.
* The podcast episode was recorded on July 10th, 2026.

Executive Summary

Younger generations in China, Malaysia, and Vietnam are rethinking the meaning of modernity within a post-Western context. The discussion involves perspectives from different regions regarding development, historical interactions, and shifts in attitudes toward China. Specifically, young people in China question the definition of progress beyond material gains. In Malaysia, growing engagement with China is being framed as a reconnection to older regional interaction patterns. In Vietnam, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a dramatic shift in attitudes toward China, leading young people to show increased curiosity about Chinese technology and society. The conversation explores whether this trend represents a move towards a post-Western identity across the region and examines how these shifts relate to China’s role as a reference point for development and aspiration in a multipolar world.

Full Take

The framing centers on the decoupling of modernization from purely materialist metrics, suggesting a potential ontological shift among younger generations in East and Southeast Asia. The pattern observed is a tension between inherited historical narratives (Kee Beng's focus on regional patterns) and contemporary geopolitical realities (the impact of the pandemic and China's technological ascendancy). This dynamic suggests that "modernity" is being re-negotiated through a lens less defined by Western frameworks and more rooted in complex, interwoven regional histories. The core implication is that the perceived trajectory of development is not monolithic; rather, it is contingent upon evolving relational dynamics with powerful external actors. Questions arise about agency: if Chinese modernity serves as a new aspiration, what are the costs associated with this reorientation for local developmental paths and for external powers like Europe? The underlying pattern points toward an emergent, regionally specific set of self-definitions occurring outside dominant Western paradigms, which challenges established global hierarchies. Further inquiry must focus on tracing how specific technological or historical reference points mediate these shifts in agency.

Sentinel — Human

Confidence

This text appears to be a human-written summary or introduction to an academic discussion, characterized by clear attribution and thematic framing rather than purely synthetic generation.

Signals Detected

Moderate sentence length variance; flows like an interview introduction rather than dense academic prose.

Maintains a clear narrative flow typical of journalistic framing, connecting expert contributions logically.

Standard introduction format; uses established naming conventions for guests and context setting.

No overt fabrication; the structure strongly suggests a promotional summary of an actual event (podcast/interview).

Human Indicators

The presence of named, specialized experts and specific academic affiliations points toward a real-world event.

The inclusion of source material suggestions ('Bookshelf') reinforces the structure of an authored piece.