Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/asean-summit-laos-myanmar-south-china-sea-254fe0f7f8b484df5bdb05c0557fccd6
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered for their annual summit in Laos’s capitol Vientiane from Sunday, October 6 to Friday, October 11. The ASEAN is a non-military Intergovernmental organization in South East Asia. They have ten members including Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos. They met to try to work out the Myanmar Civil War, claiming it is ASEAN’s biggest internal challenge, and territorial tensions in the South China Sea which has been constantly testing the ASEAN’s durability. The summit will also be holding talks with their dialogue partners: Japan, South Korea, India and Australia. What they cover will range from economic differences to the common cause of climate change. At the opening of the summit Sonexay Siphandone, Lao’s Prime Minister, gave a warm welcome to the new leaders of Thailand, and Singapore stating he hopes they can work together to help one another the “ASEAN way.”
ASEAN will also have meetings with world “Super Powers” the United States, Russia, and China (who are all pining for power in that region) for the two days following the summit. Since these super powers would like more control in that region, ASEAN is receiving more attention than they are used to. ASEAN’s influence had previously been limited to its own members, but this summit has become a platform for more sway. It is suspected that with the timing of this summit they will also converse about the conflicts occuring in the Middle East. This is a topic that these countries previously had no influence over, but with rising stakes over soveirgnty of the South Chinese Ocean with world powers, these formerly neglected states are begining to gain more of a say in worldly affairs.
The US hopes to talk about China, specifically Beijing, making “escalatory and irresponsible” moves to coerce smaller countries in the disputed South China Sea. Besides from China, 5 ASEAN members (Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan) also claim soveirgnty over almost all of the South China Sea. They have been working towards a code of conduct to help govern the Sea for years, but progress has been slow. Indonesian Vice President, Ma’ruf Amin, called for this code of conduct to be completed by 2026 which could help to speed the processes up. Some claim that it isn’t likely they will ever find a clear solution since those who are not in direct conflict with China will likely prioritize ties with Beijing-the region’s top trading partner. National interests will always matter more to a country than regional interests. However, if the ASEAN countries are able to shift the control of a primary sea it could change the power system for their region. This rise to power of smaller Southeast Asian countries could shift the unipolar system of East Asia to a multipolar system. This in turn would yield less power to China alone while also containing China’s control of this area. By spreading power (a little bit) it decreases China’s world status. And by not letting China alone control the waters, it’s almost a blockade against any Chinese water way attacks in the foreseeable future.