Asean must not overlook regional responsibility, says analyst

Asean member countries must not overlook their responsibility with regards to regional security diplomacy while pursuing their own national interests. A Singapore-based maritime security analyst, Benjamin Ho, said recently. "While national priorities should not be ignored for regional well-being, neither should they become an overriding obsession, particularly if long-term returns are sacrificed for short-term rewards," he said. He said with China and the US increasingly renewing their interest in the Asean region, which encompasses 600 million people, there might be a need for the grouping to choose between the two economic superpowers. It would be a choice that would affect intra-Asean dynamics and its cohesiveness, he said. "For Asean to remain central, it would have to make a convincing argument that Beijing’s interests are best served if China does not attempt to push through unilaterally its territorial ambitions and that it should continue to recognise the legitimate concerns of Asean states. "Likewise, Washington would have to be convinced, given its fiscal challenges, that it should continue to hold ground in the Pacific and not to allow challenges in other parts of the world (the Middle East, Russia) to distract it from the region," he said. In other words, Ho said, China and the US would gain much from the region if they could commit themselves to exercising strategic restraint in their bilateral relations and refrain from dividing and disuniting Asean. "On Asean’s part, member states would have to be perceived by the major powers as united and speaking collectively," he added. Ho, who is an associate research fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, also pointed out that the next five to ten years would be crucial in Asean’s efforts to establish a community of trust among its members.– Bernama, August 2, 2015.