The Revitalization Of Asean Role As An Honest Broker

Around the year 2015 China has started building artificial islands on disputed territory in the South China Sea for the purpose of resource mining, installment of surveillance and defensive infrastructures. Countries in the South China Sea that lay economic and territorial claims such as the Philippines, Malaysia, and Japan have expressed security concerns regarding China’s aggressive expansion unto territories such as the Spratyl Islands and Rubi Reef as China had increased security and surveillance in this territory may lead to conflict in trade, fishing, and other activities in the South China Sea. China’s expansion into the South China Sea is an issue to U.S. Foreign policy as claiming of the territories is goes against international

This next move begun in the form of China’s build up in contested islands around the South China Sea and its growing tensions with Japan over the contested island in the East China Sea. China’s maritime disputes, between the nations of Japan, Brunei, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, is the new political hotspot that is becoming an important topic in the global political stage, with even the United States getting involved. These six countries lay overlapping claims to the East and South China Sea, because the area is rich in hydrocarbons and natural gas and also because the area is important as a commercial shipping route. China seeks to use the islands to expand its maritime presence and has been growing its assertiveness from regional claimants like Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The increasingly frequent standoffs range from, the Diaoyo/Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea against Japan, and the

The purpose of this report is to compare and contrast two regional trading blocs: the EU and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and also to discuss and analyse the implications for the marketing managers that operate in these blocs. Schott (1991) defines a trading block as a type of intergovernmental agreement that aims to reduce regional barriers to trade for the participating states. This report will look at the similarities and differences between the two blocs in the first part, with the second part looking at the implications for marketing managers and the advantages and disadvantages that they have in both trading blocs. Background information for EU and ASEAN will be considered in this report along with the role of WTO

The disputes in the SCS are subjugated to set of international norms which influence the response made by states towards competing assertions of sovereignty over territory. UNCLOS is an essential component in determining states’ claims in the SCS as it “establishes a legal framework to govern all uses of the oceans” (Beckman, 2013, p. 1). It is also crucial in validating the claims made in the SCS, because all states in the region have ratified the convention, including China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Indonesia. The convention does have limitations, in that it does not help states determine sovereignty over land territory,

When it comes to the political profile, seven different countries have competing maritime claims (mostly over the Spratly and Paracel Islands), some of which become even more complicated as some overlap with other nations’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). Despite the “intraregional distrust, deeply rooted historical issues, and rapidly increasing military spending” in the region surrounding the South China Sea, one expert argues that “not only has the conflict not escalated into a serious military conflict; it has, in fact, been mitigated… in fact, a more stable peace has developed.” (Costlow, 2012, p.6).

The first challenge for Australian foreign policy is to maximize the economic and security opportunities by maintaining their relationship with Indonesia and ASEAN. In the case with Indonesia, Indonesia is one of Australia’s closest friends as the two countries share strong security and economic system. In terms of politics, Indonesia is essential to Australia because Indonesia plays a key role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations so a steady relationship with Indonesia is required for a cohesive and productive relationship with ASEAN. Moreover, Indonesia is the most important country in Southeast Asia with one of the most powerful military forces in the region. Therefore, Indonesia already controls and wants to improve its effect over ASEAN. According to researches, Indonesian motives for improving its role as regional peacekeeper have been revealed in recent perspectives by the general of the Indonesia’s military, who stated, Indonesian motives of playing a ‘big brother’ role with the respect to security in ASEAN and in the region (Tiernan, 2007).

China has used historical claims to justify its territorial usurpations in the South China Sea. China’s territorial claims are causing conflict in the region as Beijing seeks to control more area of the South China Sea, with one such example being the declaration of Chinese control out to the “Nine dashed line.” Additionally, it is only in the last one hundred or so years that China has

China’s recent assertions of military power in the South China Sea is a serious threat to U.S. National Security, and will remain so if China is not confronted or restricted. In recent years, China has increased military spending, weapons, and is now building artificial islands on highly disputed territory in the South China Sea to expand territorial claims. Since the world is anarchic, conflict is always a possibility between States that the U.S. must be aware of and prepared for. In regard to U.S.-China relations, the United States goal should be to protect the freedom of navigation, prevent any further expansion China makes on disputed territory in the South China Sea, and to hold China under high surveillance observation. To accomplish the previously stated goals, the U.S. should respond to China’s recent assertions of naval and air power in the South China Sea through the military initiatives of surveillance and power projection by deploying more ships to the South China Sea to protect Asian allies and any trade traveling through the international water.

In this article, “How to Deter China, The Case for Archipelagic Defense”, Andrew Krepinevich, includes various examples of China’s trait of bullying and how others, who are victim, may not be able to compete in the same way with other governments. He includes strategies that the United States may or may not be able to implement in order to aid in Asian peace. We are given information regarding our country’s planned action to address this issue. He gives examples of how China’s bullying and repression on other countries that are located within China’s reach occur. For example, Krepinevich writes, “China moved an oil rig into Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, clashing with Vietnamese fishing boats”. These actions would never lead to peace between Vietnam and China, however, it only proves who is the most powerful of the two. It is true that China is a world power that is very advanced and able to do the majority of what it wants, but this does not justify actions that cause problems among others. He brings up “Archipelagic Defense”, and this is just a country’s ability to stand firm and defend themselves with these issues. He explains how several countries like Vietnam and Japan in particular, are willing to put forth the efforts necessary for archipelagic defense. This defense is needed in responding to this

ASEAN was officially founded in August 1967 when five founding member states jointly signed the Bangkok declaration. Since then ASEAN experienced number of threats, such as security threat in cold war, economic and financial threat in 1997 East Asia Economic crisis, and now being in the security dilemma between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, prominent major powers attempting to dominate the region, despite all the threat, ASEAN set its goal to become a community in December 2015 which has lot of potential to contribute to the world stage but it also has countless number of challenges, mainly caused by its diversities, nationalism and lack of

The territorial and maritime disputes over the South China Sea (SCS) have been ongoing for decades. The disputes have been considered to be one the fiercest-contested in Asia. The South China Sea is an enclosed sea surrounded by several different states. China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, and Malaysia all surrounded the South China Sea. The main cause of tension in this dispute is because China claims to have “historical sovereignty” over all of the South China Sea. Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have come up with different discussions and suggestions on how to end the disputes with favorable conditions for all contending states. They use the principles of the United Nation Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and form the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). The states surrounding the South China Sea possess 12 nautical miles territorial sea and 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zones (EEZs). Thus, the South China Sea is not only international waters, instead, it is also overlapping exclusive economic zones. According to UNCLOS, disputes over exclusive economic zones must be resolved through negotiations by the contending states. Many of these contending Southeast Asian states have negotiated their maritime boundaries, however, China fails to comply. China claims that it owns all of the South China Sea, and therefore, has no need to

As of today, China has expanded and built over seven artificial islands in the South China Sea since 2014. The South China Sea has recently come to be a major problem in Asia as issues have risen over who has rights of passage and claims in this area. The Chinese of recent have been making territorial claims in the South China Sea that are in areas of free passage for many other Asian countries and the United States. In October 2015, a U.S. guided missile destroyer encountered one of the artificial islands and China’s response was that it would “take any measure” to maintain its security in “their territory”. The Chinese have been questioned in the Permanent Court of Arbitration by the Philippines after claiming rights to historical locations in the South China Sea, which violates sovereign rights of the Philippines, yet China responded to this outcome with refusal and has continued to advance itself in the territory causing huge disputes with its neighboring countries as freedom of navigation has been compromised through China’s actions.. In order to guarantee resolution and maintain the freedom of navigation aspect of international law there needs to be a foreign policy put in place that puts more United States military in the South China Sea with support from disputing countries like Japan and the Philippines as a way to make the issue multilateral and law abiding.

In July 2013, Wenweipo - the pro-PRC Chinese-language newspaper published an article titled “Six Wars China is sure to fight in the next 50 years”. According to this article, after unification of Taiwan (year 2020 to 2025), China will take the second war: Reconquest of Spratly Islands (year 2025 to 2030) and “China will send the ultimatum to countries surrounding the Islands with the deadline of 2028. The countries having disputes on the sovereignty of Islands can negotiate with China on preserving their shares of investments in these Islands by giving up”. In 1999, two Chinese military colonels – authors of the book namely “Unlimited War” suggested using an “unlimited war” to solve the disputing in the South China Sea. These authors said that, to avoid a war does not mean that not using military force and a conflict is indispensable. However, there is one more important thing that to control the intensities of conflict that. It is necessary to conduct some special activities to prove the sovereignty of China in the disputing Spratly Islands but do not let this activities increase to the total war. These things prove that the potential war between Vietnam and China in the future could be come true.

The dispute over the South China Sea denotes the process of power rebalancing while China rising as a hegemony in East Asia. China craves for more resources and power and decides to effectuate that by controlling more maritime territory. This act impelled the United State to align with the Philippines to balance with China. In a realism world, U.S. has adequate reason to intervene for fear for China becoming too strong a power.

In the Western Pacific, the South China Sea is a global crossroads that holds strategic importance for many nations world wide. The South China Sea stretches from the Taiwan and Luzon Straits in the north to Indonesia and the Strait of Malacca in the south with Vietnam on the west and the Philippines and Borneo on the east. In total size, the South China Sea surpasses the Mediterranean Sea. However, unlike this Near-Eastern comparator, territorial disputes and conflicting claims threaten the movement of global trade through the South China Sea, thus unbalancing regional stability in the Asia-Pacific. Claimants include the bordering coastal countries of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China (a.k.a. Taiwan), the