As US President Barack Obama pushes forward with a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership in Hawaii, a week of summitry quietly began here on Sunday with the first set of meetings between member-state representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). A meeting of the wider East Asia Summit (EAS) is to follow on Saturday.
The South China Sea dispute led on Sunday’s Asean agenda, with senior officials of the 10-member bloc —comprising Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam —holding the first meeting of the working group tasked with building consensus for framing a regional code of conduct in the resource-rich waters.
Later in the day, officials had a preparatory meeting to discuss other engagements such as the Asean Ministerial Meeting, Asean Political and Security Council and the Asean+3 meet to take place over the week.
This year’s EAS will include America and Russia for the first time, with Obama in attendance. India, China, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and the Asean members would also attend.
The Asean summit itself comes at a time when the region has been unsettled by China’s increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea. At their previous meeting, Asean members and China were able to agree on guidelines for implementation of the ‘Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea’ of 2002, but it remains unclear as to how much momentum may be generated at this week’s summit.
“The discussion in the working group was more of a brainstorming (session) to have a clear understanding (among) each of us as to what is the COC (code of conduct),” Ade Padmo, the Indonesian foreign ministry’s director for Asean political and security cooperation, told reporters after the working group met.
“Each of us probably has a different view but at least with on Sunday’s meeting, we are clear (about) each other,” he added. He refused to comment on the extent of progress that could be made at this summit or the sort of consensus that could be built among Asean members.
With India’s involvement in the South China Sea brought to the forefront after the INS Airavat incident off the coast of Vietnam in July, New Delhi’s stance during these meetings would also be watched. “The Chinese will probably try to downplay or avoid the subject of India’s role in the South China Sea, while the Vietnamese might try to raise it. In any event, many Asean states will be keen to see what role India envisages playing in the region,” said David Brewster of the Australian National University.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the Asean-India summit and the EAS, apart from meeting Obama separately.
Washington’s re-engagement with the Asia-Pacific will be the focus of EAS, especially seen against the rising influence of China in the region.
Obama will surely aim to address apprehensions that the US may not remain as strategically influential in Asia as before.
Within the 18-member forum, the way EAS is to proceed also remains a question. “A major issue before the EAS is its architecture,” said S D Muni of Singapore’s Institute of South Asian Studies.
While the US and Australia may have a similar concept in mind, of a mechanism that negotiates and delivers objectively, Asean has a more “laissez faire approach, with Asean leading”, he added.
