Asean in the driver’s seat

Not a moment too soon, given the escalating tensions, not only caused by the rivalry between the United States and China but also between Southeast Asian member states and China caused by overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.

As chair, Indonesia faces internal and external challenges in leading Asean. There is the question of what to do with member Myanmar given the brutality of the military regime in suppressing its people. There is also the impact of the Sino-US tensions in the region. Last week, some Asean members protested to China over the publication of an official map that laid claims to almost the entire South China Sea. 

These and many other geopolitical issues could have easily consumed all of its diplomatic resources. 

Credit is due to the government of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, While addressing these urgent problems, Indonesia managed to set a new vision of where Asean wants to be some 20 years from now. The tagline of this year’s chairmanship is “Asean Matters: The Epicentrum of Growth” taking Asean further beyond just a regional community, which is still under way.

This may seem a little too ambitious, but it is also Asean’s way of ensuring peace, stability and prosperity for the people of the region, particularly now that the Indo-Pacific is becoming the most widely contested region in the world, with the US and its allies building their strength and influence as deterrents to China’s growing power. 

Asean centrality in the Indo-Pacific region is not merely a geographic concept, it is a political concept that requires the group to maintain tactful diplomacy for its own interests before the US-China rivalry spins out of control and turns into full-scale war. 

By necessity, Asean needs to be in the driver’s seat in setting the future development of the Indo-Pacific region. Much rests in the hands of Indonesia, not only as this year’s chair but also as the largest member of the group. All eyes are on Indonesia on how it plays its cards as it hosts the Asean Summit and the adjacent and larger East Asia Summit, this week.

This is a good time for Asean to put flesh to the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). Signed by Asean leaders in 2019, the AOIP stresses inclusivity, rules-based procedures, transparency and cooperation, in contrast to many other Indo-Pacific concepts that seek to exclude China. The AOIP has been gaining traction with endorsements from many other countries. This week, Indonesia is also hosting the inaugural Asean Indo-Pacific Forum between the two summits.

Also throughout the year, Asean is making progress on some economic cooperation programs as part of the Asean community-building process. Typically, this aspect of Asean’s work is not given much attention by the international media more obsessed with questions of Myanmar’s participation in Asean, and the tensions with China, where admittedly there has been little progress.

There are things that are beyond Indonesia’s control and it is unfair to expect the Asean chair to resolve all its problems at once.

For what it is worth, Indonesia has used its chairmanship to reassert Asean’s position in the driver’s seat of the Indo-Pacific region. Asean knows where it wants to go.

But is everyone on board? It is up to Indonesia to convince that everyone is.

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The Jakarta Post

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