One remarkable thing that has come out into the open in the recent ASEAN
diplomatic fracas, is one hard truth for this regional bloc which earnestly
seeks to strike common ground: The 10 countries zealously guard against any
encroachment on their national sovereignty and the interests of the state.
But another truth, perhaps a more
painful one to confess, is that the finger-pointing is a very un-ASEAN thing to
do. And the clear indication of general remorse is that some member states, for
example Indonesia, have thankfully taken it upon themselves to mend the frayed
ties.
The foreign ministers are at the
heart of ASEAN. The fact that the foreign ministers at the 45th ASEAN
Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Phnom Penh this July were at odds regarding how to
give an account of a contentious issue let alone resolve it, such as the
overlapping territorial boundaries within the South China–West Philippine Sea,
is profound cause for concern.
It was the first time in ASEAN
history that no joint communiqué was issued. The foreign ministers have, as a
consequence, courted the unnecessary glare of bad publicity, left the
heads-of-state with more than a morsel to chew while they prepare for the ASEAN
Summit in November 2012, and left their ranks, and everyone in it, wide open to
the adverse scrutiny of the international community — another un-ASEAN practice
in the conduct of international affairs.
ASEAN is at a crucial stage in
its dream to build a community by 2015. It would do us well to keep two things
in mind: The forefathers saw ASEAN as a regional security arrangement based on
the value of berkampung, meaning to get together, from which kampung, the Malay
word for village, comes from. This indigenous notion of “togetherness”, which
has an equivalent in many parts of Southeast Asia, such as bayanihan or dagyaw
in the Philippines, is an informal way of achieving a shared community
objective.
This is how Tan Sri Ghazali
Shafie, the former Malaysian minister, and Gen. Ali Moertopo of Indonesia,
dreamed ASEAN to be whilst they darted to and fro, meeting in the ASEAN
capitals in the mid-1960s.
It is in this context that the
broader strategic aims of regional economic, political and socio-cultural
development would have to be sustained. These, reasoned Shafie, were the
“ingredients of peace”.
Second, it was believed that the
cost of losing the region’s grip on its political and diplomatic force was too
high a price to pay for economic gain. This is why, Shafie further contended
early on, the purpose of ASEAN, apart from securing economic advantage, was not
“to puff diplomatic pimples in public to make them look like big boils” (Oct.
22, 1992, Far Eastern Economic Review). This is how, even to this day, ASEAN
officials continue to “blunt” intramural conflicts and build the confidence of
the community. How do we apply these principles given the present controversy?
The shuttle diplomacy of Marty
Natalegawa, the Indonesian Foreign Minister has been swift, straightforward and
wise.
It has won the approbation of
Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and their peers in ASEAN. I believe that
the strategy employed was to pick up on the “key elements” of the proposed code
of conduct on the South China Sea that ASEAN had already agreed on, or
consolidate the bilateral consultations that the Philippines had been undertaking
since 2011 with its ASEAN partners for a proposed framework in the resolution
of these competing claims.
If I am right, then this confirms
a very ASEAN thing to do, and hence a principle to harness in the coming
months: look for the lowest common denominators, because this is what works for
“us” as a community and then build on them, slowly and steadily.
The next step is to build trust
instead of sowing fear. If the ASEAN member states have now agreed on a
six-point principle on the implementation of the 2002 Declaration of the Code
of Conduct (DOC) in the South China Sea in order make good on its commitment to
draft the Regional Code of Conduct, then the battles will have been half won in
time for the 2012 ASEAN Summit.
All claimants should busy
themselves in delivering their political commitments in the DOC to undertake
“cooperative activities”, including: marine environmental protection and
scientific research; safety of navigation and communication at sea; search and
rescue operations, and combating international crime, including but not limited
to: trafficking in illicit drugs; piracy and armed robbery at sea, and illegal
trafficking in arms.
Finally, before looking far and
wide for solutions to a regional problem, the Philippines ought first to look
to its neighbors, especially those who are directly concerned with the
territorial and jurisdictional dispute in question.
America will make a good ally and
it is good to listen to what it has to say, but keeping them out will keep
everyone’s feet on the ground. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs
should then continue its purported “three-track” approach — political,
diplomatic and legal — initially with countries which are willing to come to
the bargaining table.
This is not to defy China, but to
invite all and keep the doors open to all who value and share respect for the
universally recognized principles of international law.
The claimants to the South
China-West Philippine Sea have, despite contentious reservations, all signed and
ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982.
In November, Cambodia will have
the noble opportunity of keeping the calm over the waterways that link ASEAN
with China and the world.
It is another shot at leadership.
Whether it wants to lead ASEAN or China or ASEAN and China is a question that
Cambodia must seriously confront.
Kevin H.R. Villanueva
The writer is special adviser for ASEAN Affairs at the Ateneo de Manila
University Office for University and Global Relations (Philippines) and
university research scholar at the University of Leeds (UK).
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