The 43rd Association of South-east Asian Nations Summit is from Sept 5 to 7 and will be hosted by rotating chair Indonesia. - AFP
JAKARTA (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): South-east Asian leaders can expect a busy week from Tuesday (Sept 5) as they gather for an annual summit in Jakarta to tackle challenges that include the Myanmar crisis and quelling tensions over China’s new national map, which claims sovereignty over disputed areas in the South China Sea.
The 43rd Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) Summit, from Tuesday to Thursday and hosted by rotating chairman Indonesia, promises to deliver agreements including on the development of green infrastructure and resilient supply chains, food security, and the digital economy and payment ecosystem.
President Joko Widodo is expected to chair 12 summits, including the plenary and retreat sessions of the Asean Summit, the East Asia Summit and the Asean Plus Three Summit, as well as 13 bilateral meetings.
Indonesia is pushing efforts to accelerate the process of decision-making within the bloc, particularly in times of crises. As a basic principle, decisions in Asean are based on consultation and consensus.
“In the future, Asean will encounter many situations that require quick decisions. Asean will face several emergency situations, because the world’s challenges are getting bigger. This is a necessity, it would be better for Asean to prepare itself to maintain its centrality,” said Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi at a press briefing last Monday.
At least nine member states, as well as prospective member Timor-Leste, which will be represented by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, are expected to attend the summit.
Myanmar’s ruling military junta is still banned from formal Asean summits and may not send a non-political figure as in previous meetings.
Top representatives of the bloc’s nine dialogue partners, including United States Vice-President Kamala Harris and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, are also set to attend.
Hot-button issues
The focus of this week’s meeting is the development and strengthening of Asean cooperation with external partners, and hot-button issues such as the Myanmar crisis and the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea.
Retno has said that the five-point consensus adopted in April 2021 remains the main guidance for the grouping in resolving the crisis in Myanmar, and leaders will review only its implementation.
The consensus calls for a dialogue among all parties, an immediate halt to violence in Myanmar, the appointment of an Asean special envoy to facilitate mediation, humanitarian assistance and a visit by an Asean delegation to Myanmar to meet all concerned parties.
Another issue that could be discussed at the summit is China’s new map and its possible impact on ongoing negotiations on the COC.
Beijing’s Ministry of Natural Resources last Monday issued a map featuring a 10-dash line that includes the waters off the South-east Asian nations’ coasts, as well as part of the north-east of India, triggering objections from the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and India.
Philippine media, citing the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs, reported that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr would push for a joint statement in the Asean Summit to address China’s actions in the South China Sea.
Retno told The Jakarta Post that she would not be surprised if several countries raised the latest developments in the disputed sea during the summit, adding: “It’s not a new issue for us.”
She also told journalists last Thursday that Indonesia maintains its position “that has always been conveyed consistently, namely that any line drawn, any claim made must comply with Unclos 1982”, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Asean countries and China have been trying for years to formulate a legally binding COC to govern the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways that is also the site of overlapping claims by China, Taiwan and four Asean states – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
During Indonesia’s chairmanship, Asean countries and China have agreed to speed up the negotiation process of the COC and formulate practical guidelines “to ensure that the COC continues to be effective and actionable”, Rolliansyah Soemirat, director of Asean political security cooperation in Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry, said last Friday.
The guidelines “summarise aspirations” to complete the COC in three years or less, but he added: “Given the complexity of the elements in the COC, the parties involved have been very careful so that a breakthrough is needed to accelerate the process.”
The COC is expected to reflect international norms, principles and rules that are in harmony with and refer to international law, especially Unclos, with the aim of achieving a stable, safe and peaceful South China Sea region, he said.
The statement, however, did not comment on the map.
Dr Adriana Elisabeth, an international relations lecturer at the University of Pelita Harapan, said that in the light of recent developments, Indonesia should try to facilitate dialogues between China, Asean countries and Taiwan on the South China Sea to improve the situation and secure the future of the region. But she warned that it will be a very long process.
“China will never give up its claim. The new map projects China’s modern geopolitics perspective due to richness of natural resources within the South China Sea. At the same time, Asean will face another hard time convincing China about the COC,” she told The Straits Times.
She added: “The COC is still valid, but if China does not agree, this will remain a regional challenge or threat of open conflict in the future.”
