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ASEAN falls silent on South China Sea
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Chinese Premier Li Qiang (left) attends the 26th ASEAN-China Summit during the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta on Sept. 6, 2023. (Reuters/Pool/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
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SEAN chair Indonesia appeared to avoid fresh confrontation with China on Wednesday over its sweeping claims to the disputed South China Sea, choosing to omit a recent point of contention from a regional summit with Beijing.
The second day of the 43rd ASEAN Summit saw leaders of some of the association’s biggest dialogue partners, including China and the United States, attend regional forums to discuss cooperation and existing challenges, spotlighting ongoing political and security concerns.
One long-standing issue for ASEAN, the rivalry between Washington and Beijing, continued to create tensions at the Jakarta summit, where US Vice President Kamala Harris acclaimed the US’ security presence in the Indo-Pacific following China’s release of a new map that has ruffled the feathers of its neighbors.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, in his first engagement with the group on Wednesday, warned ASEAN leaders against “taking sides” lest they start “a new Cold War”.
China’s official map, which reiterates its claims to areas internationally recognized as belonging to other countries, including some ASEAN member states, India and Russia, has sparked protests and put pressure on the bloc to make its position on the matter clear.
But no explicit mention of the China issue came out of the summit, not even in an ASEAN chairman’s statement touching on the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific tensions.
“We reaffirmed the need to enhance mutual trust and confidence and exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes,” ASEAN leaders said in a statement issued by Indonesia.
