US targets Asean partnership to ‘push back’ on China actions in South China Sea

Senior envoy touts ‘shared view and vision for the region’ ahead of Antony Blinken’s visit to Jakarta, criticising Beijing’s ‘many irresponsible acts’
Asean has struggled to coordinate a response to China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, which oppose those of several of its members

US-China relations

Khushboo Razdanin New York

Published: 6:30am, 8 Jul 2023

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Washington hopes to work closely with Southeast Asian nations to “push back” against an “upward trend” in Beijing’s “unhelpful, coercive and irresponsible” actions in the South China Sea when its top diplomat takes part in a series of regional engagements next week, a senior US State Department official said on Friday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Jakarta, Indonesia, to attend a series of meetings including the annual US-Asean foreign ministers’ gathering. The meetings are expected to run from July 13 to 15 and will follow Blinken’s trip with US President Joe Biden to Britain and Lithuania for the Nato summit.

“It’s not a matter of getting countries on board with the US view,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, the US assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, of Blinken’s objective in Jakarta. “It’s a matter of working with our Asean partners to advance our shared view and vision for the region.”

This required the partnership “to push back on behaviour that runs counter to that vision and to those principles, including the many irresponsible acts that we’ve seen carried out by China over the last several years and in the last several weeks”, he added.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the US assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, speaks to reporters in Seoul, South Korea, on June 21. Photo: EPA-EFE

The meetings in Indonesia will focus on building American partnerships and “strengthening our relationships”, Kritenbrink said. Washington was not asking countries to choose, but was “simply ensuring that countries have choice and the ability to make their own sovereign decisions free from coercion”.

“I think we all believe that countries should base their maritime claims in international law, that maritime disputes should be resolved peacefully, that all countries should enjoy freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight and unimpeded commerce,” the senior envoy added.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The intergovernmental organisation collectively represents 650 million people, who together rank as the world’s fifth-largest economy.

Despite successfully promoting economic integration among members, Asean has struggled to coordinate a response to China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, which oppose those of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

China, Vietnam reaffirm pledge on South China Sea ‘code of conduct’

Last month, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo during his visit to New Delhi said negotiations among the claimants to establish a code of conduct for the South China Sea had been under way over the past four to five years.

“We may not be seeing light at the end of the tunnel, but we see the tunnel and that’s where we are,” he said of the effort.

On Friday, the Philippine military’s western command said 48 Chinese fishing vessels were seen “swarming” a reef south of Recto Bank in the South China Sea during an air patrol at the end of June. Two Chinese naval vessels and three Chinese coastguard ships “are regularly loitering” a nearby shoal, the military added.

Recto Bank holds “immense potential for the country’s energy security and economic growth” and has been a focal point in “rising concern over China’s recent behaviour”, the Philippine military’s western command said on its Facebook page.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo (centre) says negotiations to establish a code of conduct for the South China Sea have been under way over the past four to five years. Photo: AFP

The South China Sea contains about 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet (3.1 billion cubic metres) of natural gas reserves, according to an estimate by the US Energy Information Administration.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in a readout released on Thursday after a call with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, called Beijing’s conduct in the sea “coercive and risky”.

Earlier this week, the Philippine coastguard said its vessels were “constantly followed, harassed and obstructed” late last month by bigger Chinese ships in the South China Sea. China’s foreign ministry responded by saying its ships’ manoeuvres were “professional and restrained”.

Chinese and Philippine ships nearly collided in the disputed waters in April, with each side accusing the other of intrusion and provocation.

While Washington, a mutual defence treaty ally of Manila, does not have any territorial claims in the region, it asserts the right to innocent passage under the freedom of navigation. Beijing says US actions violate international law due to the use of military ships and aircraft.

Blinken says he told Beijing officials US does not seek to ‘contain’ China

Lately the region has become a geopolitical battleground for the US and China. Since becoming president, Biden has made significant efforts to deepen ties with Asean countries to counter China’s widening influence.

In May last year, the American president hosted a first-ever US-Asean special summit at his official residence in Washington. But he failed to reach consensus with Asean leaders on countering what his administration has called China’s growing assertiveness.

However, seven Asean countries – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam – decided to participate in the Washington-led, 14- member Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, an initiative aimed at reducing dependency on China for strategic supply chains.

In May, the group announced its first-ever deal to build sustainable and resilient supply chains focused on strategic items including critical minerals and semiconductors.

The deal does not cover expanding market access or free-trade agreements.

Indonesia hosts great-power rivals China, US in rare joint naval exercises

China has been Asean’s largest trading partner since 2009, while the group became Beijing’s largest trading partner for the first time in 2020.

In addition, China is a member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free-trade agreement involving the 10 Asean member states along with Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

In Jakarta, Blinken will emphasise Washington’s commitment to Asean “centrality and support” for its partnership with the US, according to a State Department statement on Friday.

Blinken will also take part in the second US-Indonesia strategic dialogue alongside his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi.

Indonesia, which is Asean’s current president in the group’s rotating leadership, is home to the world’s largest reserves of nickel, a key raw material used in making batteries for electric vehicles.

In April, Indonesia’s minister for maritime affairs and investment, Luhut Pandjaitan, said Jakarta would propose a “limited” free-trade agreement for some minerals shipped to the US. However, many Chinese companies have invested in refining facilities since 2020, when Indonesia banned exports of nickel ore.