Letters | Why Asean’s South China Sea modus operandi is unlikely to change
- Asean’s accommodation of all views is what keeps it whole. If it has failed to get China to change its behaviour, it has not managed to effectively influence the US either
I agree with the criticism, but the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is unlikely to change how it does business. Indeed, its accommodation of all views is what makes and keeps Asean whole, and it would lose what influence it has and perhaps even disintegrate without doing so.
As Koh observes, Asean’s opinion has not had an “ameliorating effect” on China’s behaviour. But he neglects to mention that it also has not had that effect on US behaviour either – and that is also a concern for some Asean states, including Singapore.
As Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen put it, the challenge for both the US and China is “to offer that inclusive and overarching moral justification for acceptance by all countries, big and small, of their dominance beyond military might.” If their policies are lopsided against other countries’ interests, these countries will “seek other partners”.
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The South China Sea dispute explained
Neither China nor the US has heeded these concerns and the current situation is a slow-motion drift towards confrontation and conflict. Indeed, the two continue to militarise the South China Sea.
Objective analysts should focus on what is really likely to happen and not just wish and hope, or point out the faults of only one party, while there is plenty of blame – and guilt – to go around.
Mark J. Valencia, National Institute for South China Sea Studies, Haikou, China