The Southeast Asian leaders have gathered in Jakarta under the chairship of the host Indonesia President Joko Widodo for their final summit this year to counter the challenges to its “community’s strength” and reaffirm the centrality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Upon his arrival in Jakarta to hold meetings with regional and international leaders, the Chinese Premier Li Qiang made his debut on the ASEAN stage and voiced strong support for the bloc’s central status in regional cooperation and bigger role in global affairs. This provided a boost to the grouping, which is looking to protect its regional and international relevance in the face of growing tensions across the region and sluggish global growth.
After holding their discussions, Li on Wednesday met heads of state of the economic and political bloc. During the 26th China-ASEAN Summit, two sides reviewed the progress of cooperation, discussed the future direction particularly the “ways to advance the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” and exchanged views on regional and global issues.
When it comes to supporting multilateralism and shoring up regional integration, peace and growth, China and ASEAN are on the same wavelength. This was reflected in the joint statement, emphasizing since establishment of the China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations in 1991, mutually beneficial cooperation has significantly grown and matured, witnessing a steady development on both sides.
ASEAN not only acknowledged the spirit of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in “promoting peace” and infrastructure development; all member states have signed BRI cooperation agreements with China. It also pledged to expand the BRI cooperation as well as “explore development cooperation” within the framework of Global Development Initiative to complement the realization of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, support its building process and further strengthen ASEAN-led mechanisms.
This agreement alongside a consensus on “full implementation” of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as well as recognition of China’s “active efforts” to promote closer China-ASEAN cooperation including its vision to build a close community with a shared future and Beijing’s initiative “to build a peaceful, safe, secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable” region endorsed China’s commitment to support regional connectivity, unimpeded trade, economic integration, people-to-people exchanges and regional peace and stability.
Kamala Harris, the US Vice-President, has also arrived in Jakarta. The US President Joe Biden is facing criticism for skipping the ASEAN summit for around the same time, he will be flying to Asia to attend the G20 Summit in India and then visiting Vietnam. Washington says he isn’t subbing ASEAN; it signals the relationship with Southeast Asia has pared down on the US foreign policy priorities.
Biden’s regional strategy has a structural flaw. His administration wants to push Asia-Pacific into instability by pressurizing ASEAN to enter into a strong defense partnership with the US. Washington is seeking to assert its hegemony in the region as a “Pacific power” so that it could tamper with regional peace and prosperity and the ASEAN Declaration, which adheres to principles of the United Nations Charter to safeguard regional peace and stability and aims to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development.
Five of the US seven treaty alliances – separately with Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand – are in Asia-Pacific, indicating Washington’s main focus is on strengthening the network of allies and partners to contain China. The US military every year conducts nearly 120 exercises with regional states. This describes the US is trying to turn Asia-Pacific into a “competition arena” and great-power rivalry, something ASEAN is extremely wary of.
ASEAN policy of nonalignment and noninterference as well as observance to consensus-based decision-making are argued to contribute to group’s ineffectiveness to address global challenges and declining relevance; they serve as a bulwark against foreign intervention and ambitions to stoke tensions across Asia-Pacific and form the bedrock of regional peace and prosperity in addition to attracting starkly diverse member states.
The US incommodious approach to the region’s peace and security and cold response to the peaceable grouping’s aspiration of economic integration is disappointing and has driven the ASEAN countries to place “economic diplomacy” as it principal foreign policy goal to safeguard regional stability, hasten sustainable growth and solidify comprehensive strategic partnership with China.
Last Month, Biden during a campaign reception boasted of bringing the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) – an alliance comprising Australia, Japan, India and the US – and putting the US in a position where he soon would have Vietnam and Cambodia, wanting to mend ties with America “because they want to know China that they are not alone.” The US president’s claim is misguided and overstated.
As Washington mulls over to upgrade its relationship with its former foe over its proximity to Beijing; Vietnam seems reluctant, realizing the US ulterior motives. China is Vietnam’s biggest trading partner and an important source of imports for the Vietnamese manufacturing sector. Given an ever-growing, stable and sound relations with Beijing has always been a strategic choice for Hanoi, it’s unlikely Vietnam will support any US attempt to drive a wedge between two strategic partners and undermine regional peace, stability and growth.
China and Cambodia too are ironclad partners. Phnom Penh considers Beijing a true strategic safeguard and has committed not to vacillate in its resolve to consolidate and deepen the bilateral relationship. China’s development projects continue to improve the country's lagging infrastructure and benefit the general public With the new Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet assuring to maintain an “unchanged stance” toward China, Phnom Penh’s message is sharp and distinct: it favors peace over instability and prosperity over poverty.
Beijing and ASEAN are each other’s top trading partners and great friends; they also share similar views on deepening cooperation in areas such as agriculture, clean energy, closing the development gap in the region, cybersecurity, disaster risk monitoring, digital economy, e-commerce, food and energy security infrastructure, human resource and social development, innovation and technology, investment, maritime connectivity and security, poverty alleviation and public health.
All these commonalities offer huge development potential for ASEAN, will further elevate its relevance internationally in near-term and could help to turn Southeast Asia into an epicentrum of growth. At the same time, the region shouldn’t shift focus away from external forces, trying to challenge regional peace and stability by building military alliances and bringing nuclear threats on its shore, for such efforts could thwart the region's ambition.