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Indonesia, Australia must proactively shape region, Australian opposition says
Indonesia and Australia need to proactively and collectively shape the region’s architecture based on their interests and values amid heightened rivalry between the United States and China, Australia’s senior opposition politician says.
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Australian Labor Party politician Penny Wong (left) and Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) executive director Philips J. Vermonte speak before a lecture hosted by the CSIS in Jakarta on Tuesday. (JP/Dian Septiari)
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ndonesia and Australia, as middle powers in the region, need to proactively and collectively shape the region’s architecture based on their interests and values amid heightened rivalry between the United States and China, Australia’s senior opposition politician has said.
Australian Labor Party politician and shadow foreign minister Penny Wong, who was in Jakarta to speak at a public lecture on Tuesday, said the two neighboring countries were faced with a choice, but the choice was pick neither the US’ nor China’s side.
Instead, the choice for Indonesia and Australia, she said, was either to be “the spectators to the consequences of this strategic competition” or to work “proactively and collectively to shape rules, norms and standards in line with our interests and values.
“Some have already relegated ASEAN to the sidelines. They point to the consensus-based practice of decision-making and the increasingly divergent strategic perspectives across the 10 member states as constricting ASEAN’s ability to respond effectively,” she said in a lecture held by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
However, the recent adoption of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific has shown that it was not the case, she said.
Proposed by Indonesia, the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific was adopted by ASEAN leaders at a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, in June. It was intended to serve as a guideline for ASEAN in engaging its external partners, especially the rivaling superpowers of the US and China.
Even though the idea has been around since 2003, an Indo-Pacific concept is a term popularized by US President Donald Trump in 2017. Following the US, many countries, including Australia, have set their sights on the region and developed their own concepts.
