10. ASEAN and the South China Sea

Abstract

Territorial claims in the South China Sea are one of the most longstanding security issues in South East Asia. In this article, former ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo C. Severino reviews the claims of ASEAN members in the area, and details ASEAN's involvement in the dispute since the 1992 ASEAN Declaration on the South China Sea. Amidst all the legal arguments and political and diplomatic posturing, the claimants to the land features and waters of the South China Sea—and others which have no claims—are really driven by their strategic interests in it. China fears the expanse of water being used to threaten or attack it from the southeast, as it has been in the past. At the same time, some accuse Beijing of seeking dominion over the South China Sea in order to achieve a measure of hegemony over Southeast Asia. Vietnam needs its footholds in the South China Sea to avoid being practically surrounded by Chinese power, with which it was in conflict for many centuries. The Philippines feels compelled to extend its zone of jurisdiction and responsibility westwards, having been invaded by the Japanese from that direction at the start of the Pacific War. A vast area of the South China Sea both separates West and East Malaysia and connects them to each other. Brunei Darussalam has to ensure for itself the resources in its claimed exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, which overlap with other claims. Others, which have no direct land or maritime claims in the area save those that they say are granted them by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), are keenly interested in what happens in the South China Sea. Jakarta needs to make sure that the rich gas resources of the Natuna group of islands are under Indonesia’s exclusive authority and for its exclusive exploitation. Although supporting no one’s claims, the United States seeks to ensure that its warships and aircraft are free to navigate in or above the waters of the South China Sea and keep unhampered its trading links with East Asia. Much of Japan’s trade flows through the South China Sea, including a large portion of its energy imports. Tokyo, therefore, has an interest in keeping the trading lanes through—and above—the South China Sea free and open. All, including the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), have a deep interest in the peace and stability of the South China Sea. How much peace and stability figure in each country’s calculation of its