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Indonesia calls for respecting rules-based order
Amid uncertainty over the superpower rivalry in the region, Indonesia and Asian countries must uphold a rules-based order, which is also one of the key principles in the recently adopted ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, a senior diplomat has said
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span>Amid uncertainty over the superpower rivalry in the region, Indonesia and Asian countries must uphold a rules-based order, which is also one of the key principles in the recently adopted ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, a senior diplomat has said.
Foreign Ministry Asia-Pacific and African Affairs Director General Desra Percaya recently said Asian countries should collaborate more on how to shape the international rule of law and norm-setting and “anticipate the swing of the geopolitical and geostrategic pendulum in the region".
The United States and China have been engaged in a prolonged trade war that has been impacting growth in the region, while also competing on various strategic fronts, including infrastructure and security.
Desra said it was timely to build more awareness on a rules-based order and international rule of law in Asia and Indonesia, especially since Indonesia had been actively promoting the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific — which highlights respect for international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
“This is where ASEAN-led mechanisms should come into play. The newly adopted ASEAN Indo-Pacific outlook is a response to this,” Desra told an international law conference in Jakarta last week.
In late June, ASEAN leaders adopted the document outlining their geostrategic concept of the Indo-Pacific region and emphasizing ASEAN’s centrality amid the competing major powers. The five-page document was proposed by Indonesia and intended to serve as the guideline for ASEAN in engaging its external partners, including the US and China.
The ASEAN outlook is one of many strategic concepts for a framework that underpins the area straddling the Indian and Pacific oceans, which vary depending on geopolitical interests. Other countries in the region have developed their own Indo-Pacific concepts, for instance, India’s Act East Policy, Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific, Australia’s Foreign Policy White Paper and South Korea’s New Southern Policy.
The term Indo-Pacific was coined by US President Donald Trump when he laid out America’s vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific in Vietnam in 2017, a move that observers have said was aimed at containing Chinese expansion with its multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to Southeast Asia.
The ASEAN outlook, however, is aimed to reduce frictions between members and partner countries as well as tendencies to establish potential new blocks among them intended to contain each other’s actions.
“We aspire that the Indo-Pacific will be a region of dialogue and cooperation instead of rivalry — a region of development and prosperity. […] By making the ASEAN outlook a reality, we have empowered the countries in the region to create opportunities and protect their interests,” Desra said.
However, questions remain as to how the outlook will solve and alleviate tensions in the region, especially in the resource-rich South China Sea, which is one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes and lies at the center of decades-long disputes between China, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Foreign Ministry Legal Affairs and International Treaties Director General Damos Agusman said that, although the outlook was more about nonbinding guidelines, it referred to legally binding documents, including the UNCLOS. “The outlook is not legally binding, but the referenced documents are legally binding, so it is easier for every country to say now I have more grounds for respecting international law and UNCLOS," he said.
China and Vietnam have been in a prolonged standoff in the disputed waterways after China dispatched a vessel to conduct an energy survey within waters controlled by Vietnam in early July. Vietnam has repeatedly accused the vessel and its escorts of violating its sovereignty and has demanded that China remove its ships from the area.
China has made sweeping claims on the disputed waters based on its traditional fishing grounds, an argument that was invalidated by a 2016 international arbitration ruling favoring the other claimants. Beijing rejected the ruling, continuing instead to deploy military assets and exploit resources in the South China Sea.
Damos said Indonesia always called on all countries to respect international law and the UNCLOS without pointing fingers at certain sides. (hpw)
