ASEAN summit backdrop: moves by US in area

While US President Barack Obama hosted ASEAN leaders on Monday for their first summit in California, much of the news media's attention has been on US efforts to counter China's growing influence in the region.

In his opening remarks, Obama described the first US-ASEAN Leaders Summit as a reflection of his personal commitment and the US national commitment to a strong and enduring partnership with the 10 ASEAN nations.

He said Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is central to the region's peace and prosperity and to the shared goal of building a regional order in which all nations play by the same rules.

"In recent years, the United States has increased our maritime security assistance to our allies and partners in the region, improving our mutual capabilities to protect lawful commerce and to respond to humanitarian crises," Obama said.

A regional expert said increased maritime problems involving the United States could hijack the interests of ASEAN.

The comment was made ahead of the two-day summit at the Sunnylands estate in California. Obama hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping there in June 2013 for a "shirt-sleeves summit".

Washington stirred tensions in the South China Sea when the US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur entered Chinese waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea on Jan 30. It was quickly forced away by the Chinese military.

Joseph Matthews, director of the ASEAN Education Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, advised ASEAN leaders traveling to the meeting to avoid allowing the US to hijack it and use or exploit its presence against China.

"The region's security is linked with economic prosperity - this is a fact you cannot escape. Unnecessary involvement by a third party that happens to be an outsider could further complicate the issue," Xinhua News Agency quoted him as saying.

In 2014, China was ASEAN's largest trading partner, while the regional bloc, the world's seventh largest economy as a whole, ranked as China's third-largest trading partner, the fourth-largest export market and the second-largest import source.

The ASEAN China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) took effect on Jan 1, 2010. The 18th ASEAN-China Summit was held in Malaysia last September.

The first US-ASEAN Leaders Summit has drawn little interest from the US media. No major US TV networks broadcast Obama's speech live or even covered the summit.

The first US-ASEAN Leaders Summit has drawn little interest from the US media. No major US TV networks broadcast Obama's speech live or even covered the summit.

Instead, all of the networks were reporting live the speech of former US president George W. Bush's speech in a South Carolina rally for his brother Jeb, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate.

Much of the focus of the US-ASEAN summit on Monday was on the economy, but it will shift on Tuesday to regional security issues, including the South China Sea and counterterrorism.

The White House press secretary's office said in a news release on Feb 12, "The US-ASEAN partnership has been important in addressing shared challenges on a diverse range of issues." Those included "upholding international law and standards in the South China Sea".

Western media have interpreted the meeting as an occasion for the US to counter China's influence in the region. Reuters said the Sunnylands gathering is aimed at demonstrating Washington's commitment both as a counterweight to Beijing and as an eager trading partner with ASEAN nations.

The Associated Press reported in a commentary that forging a common front and encouraging bolder rhetoric against China over the South China Sea issue "will be a challenge" for those attending the meeting.

Only four of ASEAN's 10 member states are involved in South China Sea disputes, "leading sometimes to conflicting views on handling the long-simmering rifts", the commentary said.

Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said Obama and the ASEAN leaders are expected to promote regional peace and stability and to refrain from more provocations.

"ASEAN countries have a clear understanding of the big picture and they know the consequences," Zhang said, referring to past provocations by the Philippines.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Monday that China hopes the US-ASEAN Leaders Summit will be conducive to maintaining regional peace, stability and development.

The situation has become more complicated when news reports suggest that the US and India are planning joint patrols in the South China Sea. But when asked the question on Monday, Hong said "we noted that the US side said that no decisions had been made".

Stapleton Roy, former US ambassador to China and Singapore, said one of the first and most positive steps that could be taken is to bring the consultation on the code of conduct in the South China Sea to a successful conclusion.

But he warned that it could become a strategic competition issue between China and the US if both sides take measures to make things more complicated.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com and zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn