On the first day of the 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, regional leaders stressed the importance of unity in a changing global landscape.
KUALA LUMPUR: From acting as a conduit between China and the Middle East, implementing an expansive Indo-Pacific strategy, to inducting Papua New Guinea as a new member.
These were the suggestions Southeast Asian leaders made on Monday (May 26) while gathered at the first of their twice-yearly meetings to strengthen the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Underpinning the different proposals was a clarion call for the 10-member grouping to stay united but flexible as it looks for new partners and ways to tackle pressing challenges caused by the United States’ threat of sweeping tariffs.
ASEAN has the “fortitude and staying power” to “weather the storms” of economic uncertainty swirling in the region, Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in his opening remarks at the two-day 46th ASEAN Summit.
“We are thankful for the spirit of centrality and the fraternity among ASEAN member states in being able to come together to forge a common front in dealing with these challenges,” said Anwar, who is this year’s rotating chairman of ASEAN.
ASEAN nations are among those most heavily hit by US tariffs, with countries such as Cambodia and Laos slapped with 49 per cent and 48 per cent import tariffs respectively, before US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs on imports from almost 60 countries and the European Union on Apr 9.
Anwar on Monday said a “reservoir of goodwill” between the bloc’s leaders allowed it to expand its partnerships and act with “strategic clarity”.
“We must preserve the multilateral system and ensure that the ASEAN-GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)-China geo-economic model continues to play a meaningful role in forging a more inclusive and sustainable future for our region and our people,” he said.
Anwar said he had written to Trump to “seek his understanding” in organising a US-ASEAN meeting aimed at discussing the tariffs in the spirit of ASEAN “centrality”.
“When we encountered this problem with the tariff, we said, ‘Proceed with bilateral meetings, but retain the ASEAN consensus,’” Anwar said.
ASEAN will host its first trilateral summit with China and the GCC on Tuesday as the Southeast Asian bloc seeks to cushion the potential impact of Trump’s levies.
At Monday’s meeting, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed that ASEAN must adapt “flexibly and effectively” to every change in the global landscape, the VietnamPlus news portal reported.
The world is undergoing a rapid and complex transformation marked by political polarisation, economic decoupling, institutional fragmentation, and developmental inequality, Chinh said.
“More than ever, ASEAN must strengthen internal solidarity, uphold its central role, and maintain balanced relations with major powers by making full use of the bloc’s existing cooperation mechanisms,” he said.
Chinh called for the more effective utilisation of ASEAN’s economic partnership network, including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and urged progress in finalising free trade agreements with partners such as Canada.
The ASEAN-driven RCEP comprises the bloc’s 10 members as well as Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. It is the world’s largest free trade agreement, comprising around 30 per cent of the world’s total gross domestic product and population.
Chinh also encouraged upgrading existing free trade agreements with China and India to help diversify markets, products and supply chains.
Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto said he supported Timor-Leste’s bid to become a full ASEAN member “as soon as possible” and proposed that Papua New Guinea also “participate” in the bloc.
In March, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said his country could benefit from its Southeast Asian neighbours’ economic growth while opening an “economic corridor” for the Pacific, local outlet The National reported.
“They have expressed their desire also to join ASEAN,” Prabowo said, referring to Papua New Guinea.
“I think in the current situation of geopolitical uncertainty, the stronger ASEAN is, the more we will be heard in the discourse of the great powers. We know now that only those with strength will be respected.”
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra also called for regional unity and new approaches to counter global shifts and ensure economic resilience, according to Thai news website The Nation.
Paetongtarn warned of the “significant impact” of the US tariffs, saying they were reshaping global trade dynamics and challenging ASEAN’s economic outlook.
She urged the bloc’s leaders to urgently re-evaluate their strategies and bolster regional unity, calling for integrated supply chain networks, deeper regional integration and new partnerships to navigate the volatile economic landscape.
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said multilateralism and globalisation are “on the retreat” with questions over what the “new global order would look like”.
The value of existing ASEAN platforms should be improved as they help to foster collaboration and dialogue, he said.
“One way to do this is to implement the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, or the AOIP, in concrete and practical terms,” he said.
“This can help forge habits of consultation and cooperation, manage differences, and prevent outright conflict.”
The AOIP puts ASEAN centrality as the underlying principle for promoting cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, with ASEAN-led mechanisms, such as the East Asia Summit, as platforms for dialogue and implementation of cooperation.
ASEAN may also seek to develop, where appropriate, cooperation with other regional and sub-regional mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions on specific areas of common interests to complement the relevant initiatives.
“We should explore new partnerships, because, despite all the issues that we face in the world, Asia remains at the centre of global growth,” Wong said.
“In the region, countries like China, Japan, Korea, India would be keen to do more with us,” he added.
Trade was not the only issue on the agenda of the ASEAN Summit, where leaders met for a plenary meeting followed by a more free-flowing retreat, both behind closed doors.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Monday called on the bloc to accelerate the adoption of a legally binding code of conduct in the South China Sea, ABS-CBN news reported.
China claims most of the strategic and resource-rich waterways as its own, while several ASEAN members including the Philippines have overlapping claims.
Negotiations on the code of conduct have been ongoing since the early 2000s as a way to manage tensions in the South China Sea, but progress has been slow.
Maritime clashes between China and the Philippines have escalated in recent months, although Marcos was “very optimistic” about a conclusion to negotiations on the code, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
On Monday, Marcos underscored the need for the peaceful resolution of disputes and maritime cooperation in order to maintain regional stability, ABS-CBN reported.
He called for deeper regional cooperation on emerging and transboundary challenges including climate change and transnational crime.
Anwar also hailed “significant” steps to engage warring sides in ASEAN member Myanmar, which has been in turmoil since its military overthrew an elected civilian government and triggered pro-democracy protests in early 2021 that morphed into a widening rebellion and conflict.
ASEAN was expected to discuss the faltering Myanmar peace process and build on recent efforts by Anwar, who had formed a novel informal advisory group comprising regional statesmen to help tackle the issue.
Anwar thanked ASEAN’s leaders for approving the formation of the group, which he said would next meet with former Cambodia premier Hun Sen.
“Quiet engagement matters,” Anwar added.
“The steps may be small and the bridge may be fragile but as they say, in matters of peace, even a fragile bridge is better than a widening gulf.”
ASEAN members wrapped up the day’s proceedings by signing the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, a document that guides the region’s development and cooperation over the next two decades.
The declaration marks a collective resolve to enhance regional unity, promote inclusive and sustainable development and strengthen institutional capacity to respond effectively to existing and future megatrends.
“The international order is unsettled. Geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation, climate and technological disruption are testing the bonds between nations,” Anwar said.
“The years ahead will be defined by revolutions in technology and science. Our ability to lead – in artificial intelligence, digital innovation and the green and blue economies – will determine not just our prosperity, but our cohesion.”
Source: CNA/hz(ao)