[The Editors' Verdict] Calm and Prudent ASEAN Diplomacy on the South China Sea

Im Seong-nam, Ambassador to ASEAN

Under the chairmanship of Vietnam, the ASEAN chair country this year, the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in early this month. Despite being held via video conference due to COVID-19, as expected, the conflicts among major countries surrounding the South China Sea issue sharply stood out. This summer, two U.S. aircraft carriers were deployed in the South China Sea waters, and China conducted mid-range missile and submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) firing drills, escalating military tensions in the region, which attracted significant attention from domestic and international media.

In fact, the South China Sea issue is not a recent matter. The South China Sea, known as a treasure trove of resources, is estimated to contain 23 billion barrels of oil and 350 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and it is rich in fishery resources, accounting for 12% of the world's catch. Especially, the South China Sea is also a strategic geopolitical key point. It is a major trade route through which 30% of global trade volume and oil pass, and 90% of the energy imported by the three Northeast Asian countries?South Korea, China, and Japan?also passes through here. Moreover, China must pass through the South China Sea to advance into Africa and the Indian Ocean.

For these reasons, ASEAN has shown great interest in the South China Sea for about 30 years. In 1992, ASEAN adopted the first-ever 'Declaration on the South China Sea,' calling for the 'peaceful resolution of disputes' and 'restraint by all relevant parties.' Ten years later, in 2002, ASEAN and China adopted the 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).' This declaration affirmed respect for the purposes and principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and emphasized peaceful dispute resolution, but it did not reach the level of concrete codes of conduct. Under these circumstances, numerous small and large disputes have continuously occurred in the South China Sea.

Meanwhile, following the 2009 incident highlighting the issue of U.S. Navy ships' innocent passage in the South China Sea, the United States began to take a serious interest in the South China Sea issue. After joining the East Asia Summit (EAS) in 2011, President Obama, attending the summit for the first time, expressed that the U.S. has a strong stake as a security guarantor in the Asia-Pacific region in resolving the South China Sea issue. Also, regarding the 2012 Scarborough Shoal incident between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea, the Philippines submitted all legal disputes to arbitration in the following year and won the case in 2016, but no decisive change occurred in the South China Sea situation.

Over the past 30 years, although the South China Sea issue has become increasingly complex and especially recently transformed into a battleground between the U.S. and China, there are several consistent trends in ASEAN’s stance and response. Above all, ASEAN has mentioned the South China Sea issue almost every year in joint statements of the Foreign Ministers' Meetings, adopting fairly consistent wording based on the principle of 'peaceful resolution of disputes,' which was the core content of the 1992 initial declaration. Although in 2012, due to differences in positions on the South China Sea issue, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting failed to adopt a joint statement for the first and only time in history, fundamentally, ASEAN has maintained a calm response posture through unity among member states.

Furthermore, ASEAN remains cautious even as the influence of major powers on the South China Sea issue grows stronger. After the Foreign Ministers' Meeting earlier this month, Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh stated at a press conference, “ASEAN member states do not want to be caught in the competition between other countries.” Although no country was named, this was interpreted as referring to the U.S. and China. If one were to summarize ASEAN diplomacy’s characteristics in dealing with the South China Sea issue and conflicts among major powers in one word, it would be calmness and prudence.

This ASEAN strategy also has significant implications for the Korean Peninsula. I recall a remark from a senior Singaporean diplomat I was close to while working in Beijing: “Singapore does not choose between pro-U.S. or pro-China; it chooses pro-Singapore based on Singapore’s national interests.”

Lim Sung-nam, Ambassador to ASEAN

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.