By Zachary Keck
It’s time for the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei to resolve their own territorial disputes.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has once again stood paralyzed in the face of Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea.
As my colleague Shannon discussed on China Power, and Ankit and myself talked about on the podcast this week, the 10 ASEAN member states failed to take a united stance on the issue at the summit in Myanmar over the weekend.
The crux of the issue hasn’t changed since at least the 2012 ASEAN summit, which ended without a communique for the first time ever due to disagreements on the South China Sea. Namely, only four ASEAN member states — the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia (and possibly now Indonesia) — have ongoing territorial disputes with China (and Taiwan) over the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, China remains ASEAN’s largest trading partner and the largest trading member of many of its member states. Thus, many of the member states without a direct stake in the South China Sea maritime disputes are opposed to antagonizing China for an issue that in their view doesn’t concern them. This suits China well, as Beijing has long argued that the maritime disputes should be discussed on a bilateral basis where its influence over its much smaller neighbors is greatest.
Read the full story at The Diplomat