South China Sea: Asean risks irrelevance from ‘damaging’ non-response to tensions

With Asean centrality at stake, it would be a ‘huge miss’ if the bloc does not even issue a statement to uphold international law, observers say

Conflicting claims and a reluctance to ‘stick their necks out’ against China are seen as among the reasons for a lack of a unified Asean stance

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Asean leaders at the 43rd Asean Summit in Jakarta on Tuesday. Observers say certain non-claimant states in the South China Sea dispute have no interest in “sticking their necks out”. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:30am, 6 Sep 2023

Perennially labelled as an ineffectual talkshop, the Asean summit will be under added scrutiny this week following a rise in Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea that observers say the grouping must speak up against or risk further derision.

Opening the Asean summit on Tuesday, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo warned that the 56-year-old bloc should not be dragged into big-power rivalry, but said members should devise a “long-term tactical strategy that is relevant and meets people’s expectations”.

“Asean has agreed to not be a proxy to any powers. Don’t turn our ship into an arena for rivalry that is destructive,” Widodo said.

A Philippine supply boat manoeuvres around Chinese coastguard ships near the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea late last month. Photo: AP

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the bloc had to avoid being passive in dealing with difficult issues.

“Otherwise, Asean will lose its relevance. We have to be prepared to engage all sides actively, in mutually beneficial ways,” he said.

Last month, Chinese coastguard ships blocked and fired water cannons at Philippine vessels on a resupply mission to troops deployed on the BRP Sierra Madre vessel in the disputed Spratly Islands.

Then last week, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia rejected as baseless a map released by China that denoted its claims to sovereignty over 90 per cent of the South China Sea.

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South China Sea: Asean risks irrelevance from ‘damaging’ non-response to tensions

With Asean centrality at stake, it would be a ‘huge miss’ if the bloc does not even issue a statement to uphold international law, observers say Conflicting claims and a reluctance to ‘stick their necks out’ against China are seen as among the reasons for a lack of a unified Asean stance

With Asean centrality at stake, it would be a ‘huge miss’ if the bloc does not even issue a statement to uphold international law, observers say

Conflicting claims and a reluctance to ‘stick their necks out’ against China are seen as among the reasons for a lack of a unified Asean stance