New Delhi: From Japan to the US, some of the world’s biggest economies are courting ASEAN as they attend summits with the Southeast Asian bloc this week.
Even China, which shares tense ties with multiple ASEAN members over its expansionist claims in the South China Sea, unleashed a charm offensive as it invoked the historic ties between the two sides.
The Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a 10-member bloc comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. It is holding the bloc’s summit, as well as summits with a host of countries, including India, in Indonesian capital Jakarta this week.
ASEAN’s combined total gross domestic product (GDP) comes to roughly $3.37 trillion, according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), making its economy one of the largest in the world.
Furthermore, it has a population of around 700 million and counting. According to estimates from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), 70 percent of its population will count as middle class by 2030, as reported by Caixin Global, a Chinese news website.
The region also plays an important role in the global semiconductor industry, accounting for 30 percent of semiconductor testing and packaging globally, Caixin Global reports.
Given its emerging markets and geographical location in the Indo-Pacific region, the US under Joe Biden and China under Xi Jinping have been looking to increase their influence in ASEAN, making it a battleground for their rivalry.
The ongoing summits come close on the heels of China releasing its controversial “standard map, 2023 edition”, which not only seeks to reiterate its claim to Indian territory but also large parts of the South China Sea. The map has been condemned by several countries, including ASEAN members Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia .
Last month, the Philippines also accused China of breaking international law by using a water cannon against its ship near the Spratly Islands, where a contested atoll lies.
Courting ASEAN
During the 26th ASEAN-China Summit in Jakarta Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang cited Beijing’s long-standing relationship with the region, featuring “good neighbourliness” in his opening remarks.
“We are committed to mutual benefit … and we have kept markets open to each other. Last year, our two-way trade volume reached over $970 billion and that is more than double the volume a decade ago. We have been each other’s top trading partners for three years running,” Li said.
Li’s outreach highlighted China’s efforts in delivering a steady stream of outcomes in what he described as “high quality Belt and Road cooperation”.
On Wednesday, Li took a test ride on the $7.3 billion Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail — the first in Southeast Asia, and funded by China — that has been delayed by over four years.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, during the 26th ASEAN-Japan Summit, promised cooperation in transportation infrastructure development — placing the competition between China and Japan on infrastructure investment in ASEAN in the spotlight.
Japan formally requested for the ASEAN-Japan relationship to be elevated to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ in March this year. The 26th ASEAN-Japan Summit adopted a joint statement on the same, and promised to discuss the deliverables at a commemorative ASEAN-Japan summit to be held in Tokyo 16-18 December 2023.
Vice-President Kamala Harris of the United States, attending the 11th ASEAN-US Summit, announced in her opening remarks the establishment of a US-ASEAN centre in Washington.
Prime Minister Modi will also be attending the ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asian Summit on 7 September 2023, in Jakarta.
‘Code of Conduct in South China Sea’
China has faced no strong condemnation from ASEAN as a bloc on its attempts to expand its claims in the South China Sea, but Philippines President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr — in his intervention during the ASEAN-China Summit — did raise the fact that maritime cooperation could only “flourish” in an “enabling environment of regional peace, security, and stability, anchored in international law”.
In his statement from the 43rd ASEAN Summit, the bloc chairman said ASEAN members discussed the situation in the South China Sea, and “concerns were expressed by some ASEAN member states on the land reclamation activities, serious incidents in the area, including actions that put the safety of all persons at risk”.
This, the statement said, has “eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions, and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region”.
To solve this situation, the chairman called for the full implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).
Signed between ASEAN and China in 2002, the DOC reaffirms their commitment to the UN Charter, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the five principles of peaceful coexistence, and other principles of international law as the norms governing state-to-state relations.
The chairman of ASEAN also welcomed the progress achieved so far in the negotiations of a ‘Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC)’. The chairman also said that they looked forward to a substantive and effective COC at the earliest, in accordance with international law, including the UNCLOS.
Marcos, during his intervention at the summit with China, also hailed the progress on COC negotiations, emphasising that the only recourse is in universal multilateralism for all stakeholders. In veiled criticism of Chinese policy, Marcos commended Japan for backing efforts to maintain peace in the Indo-Pacific and opposing the militarisation of the South China Sea.
ASEAN as an ‘epicentrum of growth’
In a declaration issued after the ASEAN Summit, its leaders agreed to work together to strengthen the region’s position as an “epicentrum of growth”.
To achieve these goals, the ASEAN leaders vowed to strengthen the bloc’s ASEAN resilience against future shocks, leverage new growth drivers and embrace a forward-looking, future-proof agenda.
One of the key tasks to achieve new growth in ASEAN is through a Digital Economy Framework Agreement, which the group aims to conclude by 2025.
However, the bloc is also grappling with questions surrounding member Myanmar, whose military rulers have been barred from ASEAN summits since the 2021 coup.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)