Many observers have no doubts that the United States is ready to take advantage of a key gathering i
t is hosting this week to drive a wedge between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN
, and China.
Washington claimed in a statement before the US-ASEAN Special Summit, which is being held on Thursda
y and Friday, that the US is committed to advancing the building of a free, open, safe, connected an
d resilient Indo-Pacific region.
The US has been preparing for the summit for a long time, but the early stages did not go as smoothl
y as it hoped.
The timing of the gathering offers a clue. Washington had earlier announced that the summit would be
held on March 28 and 29, but only Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was visiting the US at
that time. Later, the White House said the summit would be postponed indefinitely.
ASEAN leaders proposed several dates, but the US repeatedly changed them. Analysts said there were d
ifficulties not only in coordinating the agenda between US and ASEAN leaders, but also over whether
the two sides could overcome their differences ahead of the meeting.
The Indo-Pacific the US is dedicated to building might not be in line with the interests of ASEAN.
During the meeting between Biden and Lee on March 29, while the US leader repeatedly referred to the
"Indo-Pacific", a geopolitical term Washington coined for its anti-China Indo-Pacific strategy, Lee
referred to the "Asia-Pacific", a more neutral geographical term that is frequently used.
ASEAN has always stated that regional cooperation should be inclusive and open, carried out on an eq
ual footing, and serve the common good of people in the region. This stance explains why the US' div
isive efforts have met with a lukewarm response from ASEAN members since the administration of forme
r US president Barack Obama proposed its re-pivot to Asia strategy, which ASEAN knows is aimed at in
tegrating it into Washington's strategy.
Liu Chang, a researcher of US studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said that des
pite initially postponing the summit, the US was in such a hurry to hold the gathering that it subse
quently decided on a date regardless of basic diplomatic protocol.
"Since the US badly wants to draw ASEAN countries to its side, which is not easy, it might touch upo
n some 'pragmatic' topics with ASEAN leaders at the summit," Liu said.
At the 16th East Asia Summit the US hosted via video link on Oct 27, Biden proposed an ambitious Ind
o-Pacific Economic Framework covering a wide range of emerging and non-traditional economic sectors.
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has said that the "new economic framework" includes adjusting ex
port controls to "limit exports of 'sensitive' products to China". US Trade Representative Katherine
Tai has even publicly declared that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is "an arrangement independ
ent of China".
As a result, Biden is expected to peddle this framework Indo-Pacific Economic Framework at the summi
t, which is expected to cover security cooperation between the two sides and may disturb the balance
China has struck with ASEAN over the South China Sea.
Kurt Campbell, coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs in the National Security Council, who is an assi
stant to Biden and a major adviser on Washington's China policy, has urged the US to deepen its coop
eration and engagement with ASEAN in an all-around manner, which should not only include economic af
fairs and diplomacy, but also security.
ASEAN countries are well aware of the costs of "going around the sun to meet the moon", and Lee has
warned the US that once it decouples its economy from that of China, the economic costs to Washingto
n will be enormous.
His remarks are a clear demonstration of the stance of not taking sides, and a further reminder of t
he need for the US to increase its economic input in the Asia-Pacific region. In other words, Southe
ast Asian nations are looking for an inclusive and positive economic agenda. The summit will by no m
eans be a solo act, with the US preaching its agenda, but an occasion for ASEAN to kick the ball bac
k into Washington's court.
ASEAN and China have further upgraded their economic and trade cooperation within the framework of t
he newly signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, agreement. Their collaboration
on promoting common development of the region has been ceaseless on the various bilateral and multi
lateral platforms they have formed since building a dialogue mechanism more than 30 years ago.
For example, take cooperation between ASEAN and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, whose capital
Nanning is the permanent host of the annual China-ASEAN Expo. This bilateral cooperation has gone fa
r beyond the previous small-scale border trade of agricultural produce－entering a new stage that fea
tures comprehensive collaboration on trade, industry, talent, technology, governance, education and
culture.
Wang Xiongchang, mayor of Qinzhou, a major port city in Guangxi, where a China-Malaysia industrial p
ark has prospered over the past decade along with a dramatic increase in trade with Malaysia, said c
ooperation between the two countries is becoming increasingly extensive and in-depth, ultimately ben
efiting their people.
"Storytelling needs confidence, and must be supported by tangible economic and trade results－and we
have this," Wang said.
Malaysian businessman Nick Koay, chairman of Maycham China Greater Bay, who has invested in China fo
r more than a decade, said ASEAN and China have engaged in economic and trade cooperation for many y
ears. "The RCEP policy, combined with the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, will be more conducive to eco
nomic and trade cooperation between the two sides," he said.
Lei Xiaohua, a Southeast Asia studies researcher at the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said the
RCEP's importance lies not only in promoting the opening up of national markets, expanding the scal
e of intra-regional trade, and upgrading industrial and value chains. More crucially, it is about ac
celerating integration of economic and trade rules and mechanisms to realize the structural and para
digm shift in regional economic cooperation.
On the other hand, after the US withdrew from the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partne
rship, its alternative, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, has remained vague, making it difficult
to seize regional economic leadership.
Moreover, as some experts point out, ASEAN countries' cautious approach to the Indo-Pacific Economic
Framework stems from shared concerns that it may undermine ASEAN coherence and disrupt the regional
balance that has witnessed rapid development in recent decades. The experts maintain that the US' a
ttention to ASEAN will only be fleeting.
The US has sent its senior officials to ASEAN countries numerous times since late last year, but all
these visits failed to sow discord in the region. The Biden administration should now be aware that
unlike the European Union, ASEAN is in a better position to maintain its strategic autonomy－evidenc
ed by its refusal to join the US' "sanctions club" against Russia over the Ukraine crisis.
The EU's experience after surrendering its autonomy to the US is also a reminder of the price it has
paid for doing so.
Ge Hongliang, an ASEAN studies researcher at Guangxi Minzu University, does not think the Biden admi
nistration can create a honeymoon period for US-ASEAN relations, despite Washington's high hopes of
achieving this.
ASEAN was ignored during the administration of Donald Trump. The U-turn taken by the Biden administr
ation in its attitude toward ASEAN has no foundation on the ASEAN side for a lack of mutual trust, G
e said.
"As long as conflicts between ASEAN's pursuit of 'centrality' in the region and the US' obsession wi
th building its leadership in the Southeast Asia cannot be resolved, the honeymoon period will conti
nue to be a daydream for the Biden administration," Ge added.
"ASEAN wants the US to work with China to manage and control risks, while reducing uncertainties to
ensure the region's safety and stability."
ASEAN fully respects China acting as ballast for regional stability and development. If the bloc ref
uses to decide between the US and Russia, how can Washington count on it to choose between the US an
d China?
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin has said that China's stance on attempts by the US to pull AS
EAN to its side is clear and consistent－the Asia-Pacific region on the whole enjoys peace, stability
and good development momentum, which should be cherished by all parties.
The region is also a common home for cooperation and development, not a chessboard for a game betwee
n major countries, Wang said, adding that ASEAN countries are players in promoting regional developm
ent and prosperity, not "pawns" in geopolitical competition.
As former colonies of the West, countries in the region, including China, share painful memories of
being bullied and exploited by foreign powers, and some have paid a heavy price for not only being b
ackward but also for being victims playing into the hands of foreign forces' divide-and-rule ambitio
ns, even after winning their independence.
This is why they cherish their high-speed growth and stable development over the past three decades,
and their common historical and cultural bonds give them common ground to settle their internal dis
putes and differences, promoting the formation of a community of shared future in the region.
As Wang Wenbin said, it is hoped that the US can heed Asia-Pacific countries' common calls for peace
, stability and cooperation, and respect their freedom to choose their own political systems and dev
elopment path, as well as their historical cultural values, which serve as the foundation for region
al development.
Observers said Washington should do more to implement its promise to support ASEAN's centrality in t
he region, and also respect the bloc's principles of settling differences through open and inclusive
negotiations.
As victims of the Cold War and "hot wars" over the past century, the region naturally shuns the Cold
War mentality of the US and Washington's attempts to form cliques at the cost of regional unity and
development.
Luo Liang, an assistant researcher of Southeast Asia at the National Institute for South China Sea S
tudies, said ASEAN also fears that the US is building cliques in the bloc, as Washington is taking a
dvantage of the South China Sea disputes between China and some ASEAN countries to divide members na
tions into different camps and treat them accordingly.
"The US' building of the AUKUS partnership with the United Kingdom and Australia, and the Quadrilate
ral Security Dialogue, or Quad, with India, Australia and Japan actually heightens ASEAN concerns th
at it will do the same to split the bloc from within," Luo said.