ASEAN and the South China Sea Dispute

This assignment examines ASEAN's response to the complex South China Sea territorial disputes. It delves into the organization's efforts at regional cooperation, highlighting internal divisions and external pressures that complicate its position. Students are tasked with analyzing ASEAN's effectiveness in mediating the conflict, exploring various perspectives on the issue, and proposing potential solutions for a peaceful resolution.

ASEAN COOPERATION DEFENSE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE 1
ASEAN COOPERATION DEFENSE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE
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ASEAN COOPERATION DEFENSE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE 2
Executive Summary
Since the foundation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) fifty years
ago, there has been greater integration among the member states. The continued cooperation
among the member countries has helped to overcome several regional crisis and problems in
unison. In the early days, the agreements were arrived at amicably and also disagreements did
not cause enmity among the members. The earlier founders of ASEAN embraced the culture of
solving things in an informal atmosphere that was characterized by friendship, and sense of hope
and optimism (Acharya, 1991, p. 162). The impressive relation between the ASEAN member
states led to the establishment ASEAN Security Community in 2003 that was later changed to
ASEAN Political-Security Community with the aim of enhancing multilateral defense
cooperation (Albek, 2015, p. 3). However, the current South China Sea dispute appears to
threaten the defense cooperation that has existed among the ASEAN member states over a
decade. The regional crisis has forced ASEAN member states to focus on realizing their
national peace more than the achievement of the regional peace (Nguyen, 2015, p. 16). For
example, it has become very hard for the diplomats from the member countries to agree on the
way forward on the South China Sea dispute. This paper refers to this crisis to formulate advice
to the ASIEN member states on how to deal with the South China Sea dispute to restore the
threatened regional defense cooperation.
This report finds that serious issues arising from the South China Sea dispute have
threatened ASEAN unity and defense cooperation. For example, the regional insecurity and arms
race competition has become intense. China has engaged in the deployment of the military in the
disputed territory against the spirit of ASEAN Political-Security Community. Besides, the
Chinese neighbors’ who claim the ownership right of the sea have continued to increase their
military budget and also sought military cooperation from external countries such as the USA
(Tong, 2016). The approaches by the different ASEAN member states threatens the security of
the region. This report recommends that cooperation and development will help to overcome the
increased regional insecurity and arms race competition being perpetuated by the individual
ASEAN member states at the expense of its defense cooperation.
The report also finds that the South China Sea dispute has caused a threat to the
environment and civilians and increased ASEAN individual member states economic interests.

ASEAN COOPERATION DEFENSE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE 3
These consequences have continued to weaken the ASEAN defense cooperation further. In the
efforts to secure South China Sea, the claimants of the territory, for example, China has
established an artificial island in the sea. With the combination of the military tools in the sea,
the natural environment is being threatened. Additionally, the ASIEN member states have
encouraged their fishermen to carry out their fishing activities consistently to prove the
individual state ownership over the territory. Moreover, the economic interests of the individual
member states on the sea have become a major stumbling block to end the dispute (Tong, 2016).
To solve this dispute, this report advocates for comprehensive consultations and redefined
consensus in arriving at the association decision. However, this may not work effectively for the
South China Sea dispute, and therefore, this paper calls for establishment of the code of conduct
whereby the majority decision will be abiding by all ASEAN member states.
Background
The current disputes over the South China Sea territory originate from both maritime and
island claims among individual’s member states of ASEAN in the region (Sathirathai, 2015).
Ideally, this is because of the benefits associated with the waters and other features such as
banks, reefs, and islands in the region. The members of the ASEAN that are claiming the
ownership of the South China Sea want to be given fishing rights, exploitation of the potential
crude oil in the seabed, exploration and even a control of the major shipping lanes (Mirski,
2015). The lack of agreement on the issues mentioned above has almost claimed the union and
integration of ASEAN as well as its defense cooperation that was formed with the goal of
preventing external attacks. According to the analysts, the disputes over the South China Sea
territory are the potential sources of disagreements in the broader region (Limaye, 2015). The
dispute over this territory seems to have been heightened by the stance stand taken by the
ASEAN member countries. This paper highlights some of the consequences that have risen from
the South China Sea crisis and if not checked they may result to the disintegration of ASEAN
defense cooperation. This view is in support of Nguyen (2015) who noted that if the actions by
the member states are not curtailed, they may disintegrate the ASEAN defense cooperation.
Increased Regional Insecurity and Arms Race
The current and the worse threat is the militarization among the individual member states
as the result of the South China Sea disputes. China leads in the arms race war. For example, in

ASEAN COOPERATION DEFENSE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE 4
early 2016 without the consultation of other ASEAN members, China deployed military
weapons on Woody Island (Tong, 2016). This came as a shock to members of ASIEN because
the consultations on dispute were in progress and China did so without informing them. Besides,
China has gone ahead to threaten that it will deploy more weaponry including Air Defense
Identification Zone to control the movement of crafts "over her claimed territory." China claims
that it owns 90 percent of the Sea, the claims that were termed as illegitimate by the Permanent
Court of Arbitration at The Hague (Tong, 2016). After the court ruling, the Chinese became
more defiant and deployed more military tools in the region. China is acting unilaterally without
considering the positions of other members in the ASEAN as well undermining the role of the
ASEAN Political-Security Community (Held, 2016).
The Chinese act distressed and disappointment her neighbors in the ASEAN as well the
United States. To respond to the China’s action, some member states of ASEAN such as
Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and Japan with the involvement of the United States formed
joint military patrols on the arguments that they were exercising freedom of “navigation
exercise” (Tong, 2016). The actions by the Chinese neighbors confirm that the ASEAN defense
cooperation role is no longer observed. The fiasco among the ASEAN members did not end here
because the individual members states that claimed the ownership of the sea have gone ahead to
upgrade their military. For example, Philippines, Malaysia, and Japan have increased their
military cooperation and also sought military cooperation from the United States (Tong, 2016).
The China Sea dispute has brought disunity among the ASIEN member states resulting to
the arms race and therefore, threatening the peace in the region. Despite the earlier regional
integration cooperation on the critical crisis facing the region, this one has become unsolvable to
the point of destroying the unity and cooperation that have existed over the years among the
members of ASEAN (Albek, 2015, p. 16). Now, the crucial question remains, what should the
best strategies of curbing the current increasing arms race and increased insecurity in the region.
This paper offers several recommendations that ASIEN members should put in place and ensure
they are adhered to by each member state to avoid the increasing insecurity in the region. Based
on the above issues raised in above two paragraphs, nationalism among the members have
largely contributed to the insecurity and arms race competition in the region. This paper
perceives that having strong cooperation and association will help to overcome these problems.

ASEAN COOPERATION DEFENSE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE 5
Recommendations: Strong Cooperation and the Individual States Development
As noted above the major factors that have contributed to the worsening of the South
China Sea dispute and threatened the ASIEAN defense cooperation are economic and distrust
among the member countries. The ASEAN should consider building its association on
cooperation and development. To establish and maintain a strong cooperation and development,
the ASEAN should look to the European Union (EU). The European Union might not be the
perfect association, but its standards in the promotion of the liberal democracy bring it into the
limelight in the global arena (Albek, 2015). However, for the cooperation and development in
the ASIEN to thrive, the member states should go through reforms as it was the case in the
European Union nations. The EU nations have undergone through many reforms that influence
them to conform to the set EU standards hence reducing the economic orientations and political
languages gaps that may exist among the member states (Tong, 2016). From the observation of
the European Union operations and activities, it is clear that the members can reach consensus
with ease than the ASEAN members. Therefore, ASEAN should focus on setting standards that
all the members should conform to. However, for this suggestion to work, the individual member
states should be undertaken through reforms.
Threats to Environment, Civilians and Economic Activities
The South China Sea dispute also has had severe impacts on the environment, civilians
and the economic activities in the region, hence, weakening the ASEAN defense cooperation
further. The continued dispute over the region has forced China to construct artificial islands on
the sea illegally. This has caused a lot of damage to the natural environment. Besides, the China
has gone ahead to bring an idea of establishing nuclear power station on these artificial islands.
This further puts the natural environment in the region into more threats. The communities in the
region expects that the ASEAN will prevent these environmental threats through its Political-
Security Community. However, the crisis on the sea has hampered the ASEAN from protecting
the environment in the region based on the Code of Conduct in the South China. The due
Chinese influence on this dispute appears to render the response of ASEAN in the region
meaningless.

ASEAN COOPERATION DEFENSE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE 6
The dispute in the region has further continued to threaten the peace and the lives of the
civilians. The individual member states claiming to have right to own the South China Sea,
encourages fishers from their countries to persistently conduct fishing in the disputed region.
According to Tong (2016) the individual members usually act in such a manner to assert their
claim to the disputed territory at the national level. Even though the strategy being used by the
claimants is good to prove the ownership of the territory, it has continued to put the lives of the
citizens in danger. For example, in the last four years, there have been deadly clashes between
Chinese naval boats and the Vietnamese fishing boats. Additionally, it has been confirmed that
the Chinese naval vessels intentionally attacks and sinks the Vietnamese fishing boats (Limaye,
2015). Malaysia has also raised a concern about the Chinese illegal sea activities at its territory.
The military might being portrayed by several ASEAN signatories undermines the responsibility
of Political-Security Community over the region.
Economic interests have been another critical issues disrupting the association,
cooperation and unity of ASEAN. It is important to highlight that the South China Sea is a vital
trade route in the region. The findings reveal that the South China Sea trade route transacts over
$5 trillion in a year (Tong, 2016). The lucrative economic benefits associated with this territory
has made the claimants to marshal their efforts harder to have an ownership at the national level.
The protection of the economic interests in the region is not a responsibility of the individual
states but rather a collective responsibility of the ASEAN on behalf of the member states through
meaningful political measures and peaceful negotiations (Tong, 2016). However, this it would be
difficult to work because member countries put their national interests first and do not trust one
another. Therefore, it would be difficult to convene a meeting or conference where the ASEAN
can agree on how to deal with raising economic interests in the region which if not addressed
may disrupt the defense cooperation of the ASEAN member states. This paper opines that the
recommendations offered below will help to resolve the rising issues discussed above as well
help ASEAN Political-Security Community regain its responsibility in the region.
Recommendations: Comprehensive Consultations and Redefined Consensus
As noted earlier in this paper, the earlier founders of ASEAN resolved their
disagreements peacefully through consultations and consensus. Even where and when the
founders did not agree they still maintained a united association (Acharya, 1992, p. 8). However,

ASEAN COOPERATION DEFENSE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE 7
the South China Sea dispute has made the founders' approach to settling the regional crisis a
nightmare for the member countries. This paper calls the ASEAN to go back to the drawing
board and try as much as possible inculcate to the culture of consultation and consensus in the
association. This would be the best way to mitigate or get rid of the continued crisis of the South
China Sea.
This paper views that, a decision-making process based on consultations and consensus
will offer solutions to the disgruntled member states in the association and encourage the
upholding of the ASEAN Political-Security Community responsibility over the region. This is
because every state will feel represented and its opinion respected. However, with only
consultations and consensus as the tools of settling it may be difficult to resolve the crisis on the
South China Sea. This because it would be difficult to use either consensus or consultation to
reach the joint agreement about the current crisis bearing in mind that China claims to own 90
percent of the sea and may always object the joint agreement (Tong, 2016). Therefore, it is
important for the ASEAN to supplement consultation and consensus with the code of conduct
that will aid the decision-making process. The code of conduct can suggest that the decision by
the majority will be relied upon when reaching the decision. Through this approach, it will be
easier for the ASEAN to resolve the South China Sea dispute and regain its defense cooperation.
Conclusion
The South China Sea dispute is the real challenge facing the ASEAN that has threatened
its defense cooperation, Political-Security Community. It has been proved that the association
has lacked the right strategies on how to puzzle the challenge facing the region. Instead, each
region seems to put its national interests first. These are actions if not checked may crumble the
association and the cooperation that has been existing within the ASEAN member states since
1967. Therefore, it is a challenge for the ASEAN to look at the more appropriate ways on to deal
with the South China Sea dispute menace. It is the right time for ASEAN to regain its reputable
image and gain recognition as the association that can solve its regional crisis as it is the case in
the European Union.

ASEAN COOPERATION DEFENSE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE 8
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