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ASEAN bolsters strong ties in face of China
Banding together: ASEAN leaders (from left to right) â Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmarâs President Thein Sein, Brunei Darussalamâs Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodiaâs Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesiaâs President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo and Philippinesâ President Benigno Aquino III join hands during the opening ceremony of the 26th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday
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span class="inline inline-center">Banding together: ASEAN leaders (from left to right) ' Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar's President Thein Sein, Brunei Darussalam's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia's President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Philippines' President Benigno Aquino III join hands during the opening ceremony of the 26th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. AP/Vincent Thian
While resisting pressure to act against China's influence in the South China Sea, Southeast Asian countries have vowed to realize greater economic integration in the region, beginning this year.
'It is clear we are making strong progress toward the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community [AEC] by the end of this year,' said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, chairing the ASEAN Summit.
Najib said earlier during the summit that it was essential for ASEAN countries to continue with measures to establish the AEC by removing trade barriers and non-tariff barriers, as well as by accelerating programs to harmonize standards, increasing capital market and financial integration and promoting the freer movement of goods, services, investment and talent between countries.
According to Najib, the current combined GDP of ASEAN is US$2.5 trillion, with the figure expected to rise to $4 trillion within five years.
President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo was in Kuala Lumpur to attend the summit's plenary session on Monday, while Vice President Jusuf Kalla is attending the subsequent retreat in the archipelago of Langkawi.
'Well, we have to be ready, since there's no turning back,' Jokowi said on Sunday night.
'Let's not be afraid. All countries are fearful of the ASEAN Economic Community. But we have to be optimistic since we have a wide range of products,' he added, saying that it was important for Indonesia to evaluate in the near future the competitiveness of all its products.
The ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, intended to showcase the 10-member bloc's progress toward economic integration, was overshadowed by the long-running maritime border dispute in the South China Sea.
Philippines President Benigno Aquino III had sharp words for China's maneuvers in the waters, calling for immediate actions from neighboring countries.
'The massive reclamations made by China pose a threat to the security and stability of the region,' he said.
The South China Sea issue, which involves four ASEAN members ' the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei ' as well as China and Taiwan, was a subject of discussion during the summit, with China continuing to assert its sovereignty over disputed tracts of the sea.
The Philippines and Vietnam have been the most vocal critics of China's claims in the South China Sea, while Indonesia, which has no stake in the area and has acted as an intermediary in resolving the dispute, retained its neutral stance during the summit.
Satellite images show that China has made rapid progress in building an airstrip suitable for military use in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
The forum had been scheduled to issue a statement to address the issue late Monday, but it was pushed back to Tuesday for uncertain reasons.
For the past few years, China and ASEAN have engaged in stiff negotiations over the Code of Conduct (CoC) ' an instrument to help prevent military conflict in the dispute.
Reuters revealed that the statement would say that reclamations had 'eroded trust and confidence and may undermine peace, security and stability in the South China Sea'.
'We reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation in and over-flight over the South China Sea,' it will say.
The draft seen by Reuters does not refer specifically to China, but would nonetheless be ASEAN's strongest response yet to the controversial reclamations in the disputed waters.
Najib said that he hoped ASEAN could resolve issues with China in a constructive manner.
'We hope to be able to persuade China that it's also in their interest not to be seen as confronting ASEAN and that any attempt to destabilize this region would not benefit China either,' he said.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla admitted that there were several different points of view on the issue, for example, those of the Philippines and Vietnam.
'However, all [countries] agreed that the issue must be resolved properly,' he said.
