ASEAN leaders want South China Sea consensus, peace in Myanmar
FORUM Staff
Amid rising regional tensions, leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at their October 2024 summit called for speeding up adoption of a long-awaited code of conduct for the South China Sea. They also demanded an end to Myanmar’s civil strife that has killed at least 5,350 civilians and displaced more than 3.3 million people since the nation’s military seized power from the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup.
A nonbinding declaration on South China Sea conduct signed by ASEAN member states and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has had little effect due to Beijing’s arbitrary territorial claim to most of the strategic waterway, making adoption of a formal code to regulate behavior in critical shipping lanes elusive.
Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, summit chairman, said ASEAN “looked forward to the early conclusion of an effective and substantive” code that complies with international law. His closing statement recognized “the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety, and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea.” It called for confidence-building and preventive measures to “reduce tensions and the risk of accidents, misunderstandings and miscalculation.”
The PRC has dredged and built military bases on shoals and other maritime features in the sea. It routinely confronts other nations’ vessels, including Philippine resupply missions to a military outpost at Second Thomas Shoal in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The PRC’s maritime claims conflict with those of ASEAN nations including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Summit attendees also reaffirmed ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus calling for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar, dialogue toward a peaceful resolution facilitated by an ASEAN envoy, visits to Myanmar by the envoy and acceptance of ASEAN humanitarian assistance.
ASEAN has banned Myanmar’s military rulers from its summits until they comply with the peace plan requirements, so the nation was represented in Laos by a foreign ministry official, Reuters news agency reported.
Siphandone expressed “deep concern over the escalation of conflicts and [the] humanitarian situation” in Myanmar. In a mid-September 2024 report, the United Nations human rights office noted the civilian deaths and cited a “deepening crisis and lack of rule of law throughout the country.”
Since its founding in 1967, ASEAN has adhered to a policy of noninterference, seeking to respect each member’s political and cultural characteristics, while promoting regional economic and social progress, and peace and security. That limits the group’s ability to influence situations such as Myanmar’s civil war.
“It is the preference for conflict avoidance while getting geostrategic benefits where possible,” Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman, research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told The Associated Press.
ASEAN — which also includes Cambodia, Singapore and Thailand — stressed the importance of diplomatic efforts to establish a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. The members expressed “grave concern” about a surge in North Korea’s illicit missile testing, and the resulting tension that threatens regional peace and stability.
Following their summit, ASEAN leaders held talks with partners including Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, the United States and the United Nations. Topics included the economy, climate change and energy.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the ASEAN leaders, calling their organization “a bridge-builder and a messenger for peace.”
