US seen as the lesser evil for ASEAN

ASEAN should not feel threatened by the establishment of a US military base in Darwin, Australia, because, if anything, it will be beneficial to the 10 member states that see China as a bigger threat, a Malaysian scholar suggested here on Wednesday.

The US might have decided on the move for its own reasons, namely to maintain its influence in Asia and in response to China’s emerging power in the region, but the US poses less of a threat to ASEAN, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Center for American studies head K. S. Nathan said.

“They [ASEAN, the US and Australia] don’t want China to dominate the future of Asia. They want China to be an important player in the future, but within the framework of multilateral security dialogues, within the framework of multilateralism, within which ASEAN will have more space to breathe,” Nathan told a discussion hosted by the University of Indonesia’s Center for American Studies in Jakarta.

“In Southeast Asia, the general talk is that we see all those major powers as devils. But, we deal with the lesser devil, the United States, because we can engage the United States in ways that we cannot engage with other major powers,” he added.

Nathan said the Darwin base could thus be beneficial to ASEAN in that the additional US military presence could help counter China’s rising power, especially regarding its assertive claims in the South China Sea.

“My own reading of the Darwin base is that it is in the mutual interests of ASEAN to have that base in Darwin, but not in ASEAN. ASEAN is very clever; let [other] people do the dirty work for them and then enjoy the benefits,” he said.

US President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard earlier this month unveiled plans to deepen the US’ military presence in the Asia-Pacific region by establishing a US base equipped with 2,500 US marines in the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory, Darwin.

Many have said that the growing US military presence in the region is aimed at countering the rising influence of China.

However, the US plan for a military base in Darwin, a city just 850 kilometers from Indonesia, has raised concerns from some ASEAN members.

President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono said after meeting with Obama and Gillard that both leaders “guaranteed” there were “no intentions” to disrupt neighboring countries. “Presumption and prejudice could disintegrate us all in the region,” Gillard said.