TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Vietnam to champion ‘cohesive’ ASEAN despite testy ties with China
International relations experts measure up Vietnam's impending chairmanship of ASEAN next year amid simmering tensions in the South China Sea.
Change Size
In this Friday, July 8, 2016 photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese navy sailors search for targets onboard the missile destroyer Hefei during a military exercise in the waters near south China's Hainan Island and Paracel Islands. They are controlled by Beijing but also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. China's navy is holding a week of military drills around the disputed islands ahead of a ruling by an international tribunal in a case filed by the Philippines challenging China's claim to most of the South China Sea. China is boycotting the case before The Hague-based court and says it will not accept the verdict. (Xinhua via AP/Zha Chunming)
V
ietnam is likely to devote its full attention to ASEAN when it takes up the chairmanship of the bloc in 2020, in what international relations experts believe will be a challenging year for ASEAN unity in the face of global economic headwinds and a more assertive China.
Next in line to chair the 10-nation bloc, Hanoi was pushing for a more “cohesive and responsive” ASEAN next year, setting the tone for the contestation of a decades-long dispute in the South China Sea, international relations expert Aleksius Jemadu said on Tuesday.
The Pelita Harapan University scholar argued that a more cohesive ASEAN would serve as a platform for Vietnam to increase its bargaining power in negotiations for a final draft of the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, which is currently being negotiated among ASEAN countries and China.
“Vietnam is committed to regional cooperation as an important platform to deal with the great powers; [...] it is going to [do its utmost to] make its chairmanship successful in dealing with geopolitical concerns partly to do with the rise of China,” he said during a discussion hosted by The Habibie Center in Jakarta.
The COC is a set of norms and guidelines that will govern activities in the South China Sea, a disputed body of water claimed by China and a few other countries, including Vietnam. The two sides were involved in a number of skirmishes this year, further straining testy ties. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also have competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, which is one of the world’s busiest global maritime shipping routes.
Vietnam officially announced its plans for the ASEAN chairmanship at the 35th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok last month. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc noted in his speech during the handover ceremony that Vietnam had adopted “A Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN” as the theme for its 2020 chairmanship.
He said the country wished to foster a “sustainable cohesiveness” among member states by consolidating unity, increasing economic connectivity, promoting shared values and a common identity, improving ASEAN’s efficiency and improving ties with dialogue partners.
