Simmering tensions over territorial disputes
in the South China Sea and ethnic conflicts pose serious threats to regional
unity and could undermine efforts to promote closer cooperation among Southeast
Asian economies, the Asian Development Bank Institute said in a study released
this week.
"Unresolved
territorial and ethnic conflicts -- within ASEAN and on its periphery -- remain
serious threats to regional unity and harmony," the ADBI report said.
Longstanding
territorial disputes over the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands and Scarborough
Shoal pit China against four ASEAN members -- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines
and Vietnam.
"Managing
and resolving these disputes will increasingly test the effectiveness of
political mechanisms to maintain peace and security in the region," the
study says.
The
Association of Southeast Asian Nations is home to about 620 million people with
a combined gross domestic product of more than $2.3 trillion, or 3.3 percent of
the world total.
ASEAN
plans to establish an economic community by next year to promote the flow of
goods, services, investments and skilled labor among its 10 member countries,
but the ADB has earlier said it is "highly unlikely" that ASEAN will
attain the goal by the target date.
The
ADBI report also criticizes what it calls a lack of internal cohesion to
formulate a long-term regional development strategy, its loss of
"centrality" in the regional economic and geopolitical context due to
the rise of China and India, and the region's inability to collectively manage
climate change, energy security, and regional natural disasters.
Aside
from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, ASEAN also includes
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.
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