ASEAN vows to focus on regional stability

ASEAN foreign ministers wrapped up last week's talks in Manila with fresh pledges to tackle long-running regional flashpoints — from South China Sea tensions to Myanmar's crisis.

But the agenda was eclipsed by the escalating conflict in the Middle East, which threatens to squeeze Southeast Asia's energy-dependent economies.

The joint communique from the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting acknowledged that the war has affected ASEAN's "stability in energy, food, and our peoples' well-being".

Peter TC Chang, former deputy director of the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, cited this communique to show how the Middle East crisis has prompted ASEAN to adapt its consensus-driven diplomacy to a rapidly evolving global security environment.

He said that ASEAN's diplomatic role remains "necessarily limited", but ASEAN can serve as a collective voice for Southeast Asia's interests on issues affecting global stability and to provide a neutral platform where major powers can engage through dialogue on the sidelines of ASEAN-led meetings.

"The harsh reality is that ASEAN's diplomatic influence is limited in resolving the current geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, due to it being geographically distant and tangential to the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran," said Mustafa Izzuddin, an international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore.

Apart from issuing a statement on the Middle East, some of the key outcomes of the foreign ministers' meeting include adopting the Guidelines on the Modalities for Engagement of ASEAN with High Contracting Parties to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia; welcoming Turkiye as ASEAN's 12th Dialogue Partner and approving the conferment of Sectoral Dialogue Partner status on Germany and Qatar; and reaffirming that the Five-Point Consensus remains the bloc's primary framework for addressing the situation in Myanmar.

ASEAN ministers also held post-ministerial conferences with ASEAN's 11 dialogue partners and reviewed progress under their Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships. At the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting, ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening regional resilience, supply chains, food and energy security, and practical cooperation amid global uncertainties.

Chang of the Institute of China Studies said the reaffirmation of the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar is "diplomatically significant, but it marks continuity rather than a breakthrough".

Anna Rosario Malindog-Uy, vice-president of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute, a Manila-based think tank, said that with regard to the Myanmar issue, ASEAN must avoid two extremes: isolating Myanmar without a workable diplomatic strategy, and engaging its ruling elites in ways that grant legitimacy without obtaining concessions.

Sternest test

Mustafa said resolving the Myanmar situation remains one of ASEAN's sternest tests, as it continues to stand firm on the Five-Point Consensus being implemented in Myanmar before it can return to the ASEAN fold.

He also cited the South China Sea issue and how it is incumbent on both ASEAN and China to lend greater urgency to finalizing the long-delayed code of conduct, which would lead to a win-win in China-ASEAN relations.

Chang said the Manila meetings provided renewed momentum for negotiations on the code of conduct, but progress will depend on overcoming divergent interests within ASEAN, the influence of external powers, and the complexity of agreeing on a meaningful framework for the South China Sea.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing last week that countries that are not parties in the South China Sea are in no position to interfere in the maritime issues between countries concerned.

prime@chinadailyapac.com