Overstatement to say China is dividing and conquering Asean

The commentary “China’s dangerous divide and conquer game with Asean” (April 27), which said China had “lost the plot” in balancing its territorial claims against its relations with the Association of South-east Asian Nations, is problematic.

Fundamentally, it fails to recognise Asean’s uniquely flexible nature. Unlike other regional blocs such as the European Union, Asean is not defined principally by shared hard stances on major issues of concern.

Nor does it have the supranational authority to enforce any singular viewpoint through far-reaching, concrete legislation and policy. Instead, the organisation is characterised generally by amity and tolerance.

Recognising that its member states’ interests vary on various points of contention, Asean does not seek to combine these disparate threads consciously, but rather to prevent entanglements by fostering mutual respect.

This is evident from the relatively soft approach of the “Asean Way”. Leaders generally refrain from impressing certain views on one another.

It is seen in other disputes where member states hold to differing positions, without necessarily fracturing the organisation itself. Examples include the border conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia, and the brouhaha over trans-boundary haze.

For years, Asean has existed, and thrived, within the ambit of this unusual equilibrium.

While the South China Sea dispute is larger in scale and more frightening in its implications, nothing yet suggests a radical shift from that premise. The absence of nominal Asean unity or cohesive action does not strictly imply destabilisation.

China’s pursuit of consensus with three Asean nations, independent of the other members, is not unusual within this paradigm. To say that China is dividing and conquering is something of an overstatement.

The question then becomes: Should Asean continue this sense of balance, or should it reinvent itself as something more muscular, befitting this new era of realpolitik?