OpinionSouth China Sea: Asean must stand up to the US and China to preserve its centrality

The primary players in the disputes around the South China Sea say they support Asean centrality, but their actions tell a different story

The US and its partners have asserted themselves in part because they felt Asean was ineffective in dealing with regional security issues

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US President Joe Biden (centre) takes part in the Asean-US Summit held online on October 26. Despite claims of supporting Asean centrality, the US and its allies’ actions have undermined regional security. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:15am, 2 Nov 2021Updated: 11:50am, 2 Nov 2021

One of Asean’s core aspirations is centrality in security affairs in the region. There is a range of interpretations of what that means. A limited view is that it means the organisation is situated in and must remain at the core of Southeast Asian forums such as the Asean Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit.

But some in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations itself suggest it means it wants to play a central role in managing security issues in its region. Australia, China, Japan and the United States say they support Asean centrality, but their actions threaten to undermine it.

That was evident before and even during the recent Asean summits. The US and China used them to verbally attack each other and promote their own visions for the region that differ significantly from Asean’s.

The outsiders hijacked the focus of the East Asia Summit with their contest for domination of the South China Sea and the region. In the run-up to the meetings, the US and China undertook duelling military exercises.

The US and its allies carried out major exercises in the Philippine Sea. Meanwhile, the Chinese and Russian navies carried out joint military exercises in areas bordering the South China Sea.

Beijing also undertook massive military air sorties through Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. During the meetings, a US carrier strike group held joint exercises with a Japanese helicopter carrier in the South China Sea.