The Perils of Overstretching Minilateral Cooperation Within ASEAN
The DiplomatThe role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in regional security has been questioned since the return of major power competition in recent years. At the recent ASEAN Plus Three summit in Jakarta, China’s unveiling of a new territorial map that lays claims over the entire South China Sea compounded ASEAN’s institutional inefficiency in managing regional security issues. The search for a remedy to the problems undercutting ASEAN’s centrality has given rise to a narrative encouraging the extension of minilateral arrangements in the traditional security sphere, including in the South China Sea. ASEAN’s abrupt embrace of minilateral cooperation in the security realm, which would involve a tentative adoption of a more confrontational diplomatic tone towards traditional security issues, would signal its radical departure from this long-standing tradition. Nevertheless, the establishment of a new ASEAN-led minilateral cooperation in the South China Sea that seeks to employ confrontational measures in voicing disappointments towards China’s assertive behaviors would contradict ASEAN’s pre-existing declarations and approach, which stress self-restraint and non-confrontation.
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