Even though Asean finally managed to come out with a joint statement
following its regional summit last week, a fickle unity will continue to
undermine the grouping as long as it fails to address domestic problems in each
of its member states, observers have said.
Aleksius Jemadu, dean of Pelita
Harapan University’s School of Social and Political Sciences, said that as long
as China and the United States could help Asean countries more than they could
help themselves, the regional bloc would always face the threat of disunity.
“We can see it clearly in
Cambodia’s case,” he said. “[Prime Minister] Hun Sen needs China’s help in
developing Cambodia’s economy while Asean offers nothing in regards to this
issue. That’s why they will reject any statement they think will make China
angry.”
The same is true for the
Philippines and the United States, he said.
“For President Benigno Aquino, it
would be a domestic disaster if he let China occupy the disputed area [in the
South China Sea claimed by both China and the Philippines],” he said. “So US
support is very important to him.”
Aleksius said Asean needed to
begin addressing real problems, such as the need for economic development in
member states, rather than serving as a talking shop.
Hariyadi Wirawan, an
international relations expert from the University of Indonesia, agreed that
Asean would need to solidify its unity if it wanted to protect its interests in
the face of the United States and China, which have the world’s two biggest economies
and are seeking to increase their influence in Southeast Asia.
The 10 member states of Asean
last week failed for the first time in the grouping’s 45-year history to issue
a joint communique at the end of a summit. Host Cambodia had rejected a proposal
by the Philippines and Vietnam to make specific references to their separate
territorial disputes with China in the statement.
Thanks to some impressive shuttle
diplomacy by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, though, Asean states
were eventually able to reach a compromise. To make it happen, Marty went on a
whirlwind 36-hour tour of the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and
Singapore to persuade his counterparts to agree on a compromise.
The eventual joint statement,
issued on Friday, said the member states had reaffirmed “the non-use of force
by parties” in the South China Sea.
China and several Southeast Asian
countries have overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea. Chinese
and Philippine ships have been engaged in a standoff near the disputed
Scarborough Shoal since April.
The new statement calls in
general terms for the implementation of Asean-promoted principles for the
peaceful resolution of maritime disputes.
Indonesia has proposed six basic
principles in a bid to quell ongoing tensions, which Foreign Ministry spokesman
Michael Tene said had been agreed to by all Asean member states.
Among the principles are for
Asean countries to remain committed to the Declaration of Conduct in the South
China Sea, signed by the disputing countries in November 2002, as well as the
1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
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