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ASEAN faces leadership test over US-China rivalry
ASEAN is facing a major test in hosting rival powers under the newly-inaugurated ASEAN+8 Defense Ministerial Meeting in Hanoi as the US and its ally Japan have been locked in tensions with China over maritime disputes
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SEAN is facing a major test in hosting rival powers under the newly-inaugurated ASEAN+8 Defense Ministerial Meeting in Hanoi as the US and its ally Japan have been locked in tensions with China over maritime disputes.
The security forum, which was inaugurated Monday, will allow ASEAN to exercise its diplomatic skills in quelling the US-China tensions in the South China Sea as well as issues involving four ASEAN members, alongside the Japan-China spat in East China Sea.
These tensions between the US, Japan and China have raised concerns that they could deflect attention from the non-traditional security agenda, ranging from counterterrorism to piracy to people trafficking, which have been made priorities in a region that has come under constant terrorist threats and is prone to piracy.
The US has warned against China’s aggressive stance in these two maritime areas where territorial rights are claimed partly or fully by Japan and four ASEAN member states (Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam).
ASEAN signed an amicable conduct agreement with China in 2002 but the involvement of the US, and its rivalry with China over other issues, has upped the stakes in the resolution of these disputes and ASEAN collectively is under pressure to show leadership regardless of the interests of involved parties within ASEAN.
“These security forums should aim at strengthening cooperation between members and not act as a means to exclude each other,” said Surya Dharma of the National Resilience Institute [Lemhanas].
“ASEAN success will be judged on what agreements can be reached despite our differences; whether we managed to become the stabilizing factor.”
Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro will meet with defense ministers from 17 other countries Tuesday after bilateral meetings on Monday but no concrete results are expected besides joint statements. Purnomo has brought along former Indonesian ambassador to Australia Sabam Siagian and seasoned diplomat Sumadi Brotodiningrat in his team.
Indonesia, a non-claimant in the two disputed areas, has hosted informal meetings between conflicting parties in the disputes in the South China Sea since 1990 and it is expected to play a key role amid the heightened tensions.
On Monday, Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates met their Chinese counterpart separately.
Gates made no direct mention of either the South China Sea or China in his speech during the inauguration ceremony, possibly at the request of ASEAN, which has worked to avoid giving the impression that the meeting is aimed at confronting China’s maritime ambitions.
During the recent US-ASEAN Summit in New York, the US had looked into singling-out China as posing a threat to peace in the disputed waters in a joint statement, but this proposal was rejected by ASEAN leaders to avoid upsetting Beijing and to avoid a backlash in economic ties with what will soon be the largest economy in the world.
