Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, NUSA DUA, BALI | Sat, 11/19/2011 11:45 AM A | A | A | - Klipping The Jakarta Post
While rivalry between the US and China can draw ASEAN members into conflict, the grouping’s fate depends on it alone rather than outside powers if it sticks together, the leader of ASEAN says.
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said he hoped the perception of tension or rivalry would not be “a product of anybody making any arrangements with anyone”.
“I think it’s up to ASEAN, up to ASEAN’s diplomatic finesse to make sure that with all this conflicting and contending agenda … that we will be able in the end to achieve stability, confidence and security for our region,” he told reporters here on Friday.
Several East and Southeast Asian allies of the United States have expressed support for the US’ plan to establish a military base in Darwin, Australia’s northernmost city.
Japan, a US ally, thinks that the planned US military base in Darwin is one way for the US to show its commitment to the region, a senior Japanese government official says.
“This is something that is based on consultation, showing the US’ high attention to contribute to [security in] the region,” deputy cabinet secretary for public affairs Noriyuki Shikata told a press conference on Friday on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit and its related summits.
Japan has irked China with its comment on South China Sea issues, saying it is not an interest only of the claimants — China, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan — but also of everyone else who uses the sea lanes for their merchant vessels to pass through.
But he stopped short of commenting on whether the US’ plan could lead to turning the Southeast Asian region into a battlefield. “It is difficult for me to make a comment because it’s a matter of a third party,” he said.
Meanwhile, current chair of ASEAN, Indonesia, has seemingly softened its stance on the issue, with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa backtracking on an earlier statement he made on the US’ Darwin plan.
“What I would hate to see is for the agreement to provoke a reaction and counter-reaction that would create a vicious cycle of tensions and mistrust,” he told a press conference on Wednesday in Bali.
However, he softened his stance the next day.
On Thursday, when asked if the US’ Darwin military base plan could provoke further tension in the region, he said: “This must not be seen as something disturbing.”
On Friday, he also said the matter was the US and Australia’s business in their bilateral agreement.
US President Barack Obama said in Australia on Thursday, before jetting to the Asia meetings on Bali, that the US military would expand its Asia-Pacific role despite budget cuts, declaring America was “here to stay” as a Pacific power, Reuters reported.
A first step in extending the US’ military reach in Southeast Asia will see US marines, naval ships and aircraft deployed to northern Australia from 2012. Sharing the same view as Japan, the Philippines said the US’ presence in the region meant an ultimately stabilizing force.
“Given the defense relationship we have [with the US], I think it bolsters our ability to assert our sovereignty over certain areas,” Philippine communications secretary Ricky Carandang said on Thursday on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.
China has questioned the new US deployment, with a foreign ministry spokesman raising doubts about whether strengthening such alliances helped the region pull together at a time of economic gloom.
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