ASEAN summit begins as China's new territorial map fuels tensions
Photo: Collected
JAKARTA- Leaders from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations kicked off summit meetings on Tuesday in Jakarta, testing the 10-nation bloc's ability to respond quickly during crises amid escalating U.S.-China tension and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, this year's chair of the bloc, said that future challenges are "getting tougher" amid geopolitical tensions across the world.
"But ASEAN has agreed to not become a proxy for any power, and to work together with anyone for peace and prosperity," he stressed. "We should not make our ship, ASEAN, an arena of mutually destructive rivalries."
The three days of talks will see a series of high-profile meetings including the East Asia Summit, which draws a broader group of leaders from regional powers such as Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The meetings will also highlight the diplomatic debut of Cambodia's new Prime Minister Hun Manet, who last month succeeded his father, Hun Sen.
But U.S. President Joe Biden is skipping the meetings, although he will attend the G20 summit in India later this week followed by a state visit to Vietnam. Washington is instead dispatching Vice President Kamala Harris for the ASEAN-related sessions.
"Unfortunately, the ASEAN platform is no longer the only show in town and its convening power is not as strong as it were before, as minilateral groupings and other forums provide similar opportunities," said Sharon Seah, a senior fellow at Singapore-based think tank ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, in comments to Nikkei Asia.
Biden's absence has called into question Washington's engagement in the region, while China is growing its influence as a major investor in infrastructure projects. A senior diplomat said the White House's decision was met with "shock" and "disappointment" from Indonesia, this year's ASEAN chair.
Even as ASEAN deepens its ties with China, the bloc faces a number of security challenges with the world's second-largest economy, most notably in the South China Sea. Beijing claims most of the waters for itself despite overlapping claims with some of the Southeast Asian countries.
Adding to the tension, China recently revealed a new territorial map, which includes the controversial "nine-dash line," a claim that encompasses almost all of the disputed waters and subsequently invalidated in an international tribunal. Among ASEAN members, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have protested China's new "standard" map.
Over the last two decades, ASEAN and China have been negotiating a legally binding South China Sea code of conduct, which has not materialized yet. While both sides agreed in July to conclude it within three years, the underlying territorial disputes show little sign of settling.
Amid growing geopolitical tension and security challenges, ASEAN seeks to streamline its decision-making process during crises.
During a briefing on Aug. 28, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said leaders would discuss new rules of procedures to facilitate decision-making without the need to amend the ASEAN Charter. At present, there is no clear process for dealing with critical issues, including whether to involve heads of state. If issues are not resolved, they are left at their respective levels, even if it is an emergency, according to analysts.
Seah of ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute noted that geopolitical issues are "evolving very quickly" and directly impacting the region. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and then-U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan are examples where ASEAN had to quickly coalesce and formulate a response, she said.
"In this heightened atmosphere of U.S.-China tensions, we can expect more of such developments that would require ASEAN to be nimble in its decision-making processes," Seah said, adding that the bloc could take a so-called ASEAN minus X approach -- making a decision without undecided members -- to critical and immediate issues.
The agenda is "a very progressive one," said Aleksius Jemadu, a professor at Indonesia's Pelita Harapan University. There are several issues in ASEAN that "ended up stuck or were very slow in progress due to constraints of only several members," he said.
Among the critical challenges is the stalemate in military-ruled Myanmar. Even two years after the adoption of the Five-Point Consensus, which called for an immediate end to violence and dialogue between the military and opposition, there has been little progress on its implementation.
During the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting on Monday, Indonesia's Marsudi said the bloc would conduct a "comprehensive review" regarding implementation of the Five-Point Consensus. "ASEAN can only steam forward in full power if we can ensure a peaceful and lasting solution in Myanmar," Marsudi said at the opening of the meeting.
Hoping for a breakthrough, Thailand in June convened an informal meeting with the Myanmar military regime that included seven member states, as well as China and India. In July, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., during a bilateral meeting, discussed giving "some flexibility" to neighboring countries in engaging with the regime on an informal basis.
Beyond security issues, this year's summit will be the first to hold a flagship event called the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Forum, which will involve governments and the private sector in a bid to foster more economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
"Other countries' concept for the Indo-Pacific mainly focused on security issues, which is also important," Marsudi told reporters. "But equally important to emphasize [is] the need for concrete cooperation and inclusive collaboration."
