Australia's failure to build a strong
relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will have
ramifications as China's influence in the region grows, analysts say.
The
warning came during a conference in Bangkok, Thailand, to mark the 40th
anniversary of ASEAN-Australia ties.
In
1974, Australia and ASEAN founding members Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia signed an agreement establishing a dialogue
partnership.
But
John Blaxland, a senior fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at
the Australian National University, said Australia had since failed to develop
its strategic relationship with ASEAN.
"Why
aren't we at the stage where we have a bilateral 'ASEAN plus one' (summit of
leaders) with Australia?" Mr Blaxland told AAP.
"A
lot of people don't appreciate the utility and significance of ASEAN as an
institution, so they are not investing in ASEAN (as a group); they're investing
bilaterally instead.
"Australia
needs to work much more closely with ASEAN than in the past."
ASEAN
has 10 members, with the inclusion of Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and
Vietnam in recent decades.
Kavi
Chongkittavorn, a member of Chulalongkorn University's Institute of Security
and International Studies, says the ASEAN-Australia relationship will play a
central role when it comes to China.
"In
the future, ASEAN co-operation with Australia in the overall security issue and
with major powers in the case of China will be much (more) crucial," Mr
Kavi said.
"Co-operation
between ASEAN and Australia amid the rise of China will be one of the new
areas."
He also
partly blamed the media for Australia's "lack of understanding of
Australia and ASEAN".
"I
think Australia pays lip service (to ASEAN) because most of the time in East
Asia summits, Australia is not on the ASEAN side - it's on the major powers'
side."
Gwen
Robinson, also a member of the Chulalongkorn University Institute, criticised
"the snail's pace growth in trade between Australia and ASEAN in contrast
with Northeast Asia, despite ASEAN collectively being Australia's third- or
fourth-largest trading partner".
But Ms
Robinson said the ASEAN Economic Community from 2015 offered Australia a
"perfect opportunity to seize on this as a new era and as a way to build
on past goodwill".
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