China and the United States should leave the
ASEAN countries to find their own family dynamic, says DW columnist Frank
Sieren.
Some
guests just don't make themselves popular. They're the ones who criticize their
hosts' interior design choices; complain about people's table manners, offer
unsolicited advice on how to keep the neighborhood tidy and upset the family
balance with gifts of money.
This
tends to be how China and the United States behave at the annual ASEAN summit,
and the meeting this Thursday was no exception. The Association of Southeast
Asian Nations is a bit like a family that has its work cut out for it out just
keeping the peace.
A strange creature
Differences
among the EU's member states are nearly imperceptible in comparison to the
ASEAN countries. Home to a population of 240 million, Indonesia is gradually
consolidating its fledgling democracy, while Thailand is home to a population
of 70 million and recently reverted to military rule.
Democracy
in the Philippines, meanwhile, is vibrant and stable; Vietnam is led by
reformist communists, while the city states of Singapore and Brunei both have
highly stringent albeit very different governments.
Moreover,
no other alliance of states in the world contains such a wide range of
religions, from Christianity to Buddhism and Islam in both moderate and radical
forms. There is also a wide wealth gap between the various member states.
ASEAN was
founded in 2009, using the EU as a blueprint. It has since transpired that
finding consensus among 600 million people is a lot more complicated. Even
identifying a common position on China is divisive. In 2012, the meeting
between 10 Southeast Asian foreign ministers in the Cambodian capital, Phnom
Penh, ended without their having agreed on a final declaration, because they
were unable to decide how to deal with China.
Exercising restraint
Against
this backdrop, there is only one solution: the guests from China and the US at
the ASEAN summit in the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw should have exercised as
much restraint as possible. No sniping about family dynamics, and no
well-meaning but unwelcome advice to other members of the family.
But
that's not the Americans' style. No sooner had he touched down, than US
President Barack Obama began harping on about the human rights situation in
Myanmar, criticizing a perceived step backwards in the process of political
reform.
"Progress
has not come as fast as many had hoped when the transition began four years
ago," he told reporters. "In addition to restrictions on freedom of
the press, we continue to see violations of basic human rights and abuses in
the country's ethnic areas, including reports of extrajudicial killings, rape
and forced labor." Obama finished on a conciliatory tone, saying that
"the democratization process in Myanmar is real" - but his words were
little consolation.
None of
the ASEAN countries want to be lectured to like this by the American president,
not least because no one in Asia believes that the United States can judge
which political system is ever best under the circumstances in the first place.
ASEAN countries have other yardsticks. Stability counts more than freedom.
Not
standing for any kind of interference is not anti-American but symptomatic of a
fundamental Western value, namely self-determination. It's a value that -
surprisingly - plays more of a role in Beijing's foreign policy that in that of
many Western nations.
Beijing also likes to interfere
But
Beijing too is not happy to stay completely out of things. The Chinese just do
it in a quieter and less obvious manner. Rather than taking a public stance
they prefer to have individual consultations with the various members of the
ASEAN family and to play them off each other.
The $480
million that China will contribute as aid to ASEAN members in the coming year
is naturally not for the countries to do with as they desire. The money is
directed by Beijing according to political motives. Naturally, Beijing can
adopt the position of "he who pays also decides." But this is
short-sighted: ASEAN states that pull together, and perhaps represent a conduit
for dialogue with the world, would be able to stabilize Asia both politically
and economically.
But the
United States and China are only interested in this if ASEAN does what they
want. As long as this is not the case the two world powers continue to mess
around in ASEAN affairs. In this way ASEAN states, that often enough stand in
their own way, never come together.
Of all
people it fell to Prayut Chan-o-cha, a pro-West army general who now rules as
prime minister after a putsch in Thailand, to find the right words. He said
ASEAN states should "together and independently from outside
influences" demonstrate that they can solve their differences with China
alone.
In the
coming year there will be plenty of opportunity for this: At the meeting in
Myanmar the ASEAN states agreed that 2015 would be the year of China-ASEAN
maritime cooperation.
Frank
Sieren
DW columnist Frank Sieren is one of Germany's
leading experts on China. He has lived in Beijing for 20 years.
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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