International Security Issues in a Global Age by Clive Jones Caroline Kennedy-Pipe

Author:Clive Jones, Caroline Kennedy-Pipe [Clive Jones, Caroline Kennedy-Pipe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, International, International Security, Reference & Language, Education & Teaching, Teaching, Teaching Methods, History, Military
ISBN: 9781000144130
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2020-07-24T04:00:00+00:00

Extra-Regional Powers: China, The ARF, and The South China Sea Dispute

During the Cold War the official ASEAN position, contained in the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality declaration (1971), was that the involvement of extra-regional powers in South-East Asia was detrimental to the stability and security of the region. With the end of the Cold War, ASEAN changed this approach and sought to engage the region’s extra-regional powers through a new security forum; the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). First convened in 1994 it meets annually in July and the membership of the ARF currently stands at 22 (including China, Japan, the United States as well as ASEAN members and the other states of East Asia). In 1995 ASEAN set the agenda for the ARF with its Concept Paper, which proposes that the ARF provide security and stability in the region as it evolves through a threestage process. The first stage is the promotion of confidence building measures, the second is the development of preventive diplomacy mechanisms and the final stage is the development of conflict resolution mechanisms, subsequently renamed ‘elaboration of approaches to conflicts’ in deference to Chinese wishes.40 In keeping with the ASEAN principles of consultation and consensus decision-making the Concept Paper noted that the ARF process shall move at a pace comfortable to all participants. The evolution from stage to stage is accomplished via a twin-track process. Track I involves government officials, while Track II involves discussions by strategic institutes and other non-governmental organizations to explore possible activities at the current and subsequent stage of the ARF process. Track I has since been subdivided into two with the Intersessional Support Group, which is concerned with security perceptions and defence policy papers, and Intersessional Meetings, which deal with co-operative activities such as peacekeeping, search and rescue co-ordination and disaster relief.

The ARF is primarily designed to engage China in security dialogue and thereby reduce the uncertainty some of the ASEAN members have of Chinese intentions.41 These concerns, in particular those of Vietnam and the Philippines, centre on Beijing’s claim to the islands and reefs in the South China Sea. These islands and reefs, which are known collectively as the Spratlys, are claimed in whole by China and Vietnam, and in part by the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. The area is thought to be rich in natural resources and a number of gas and oil companies have begun exploratory drilling. With the claims overlapping, all claimants, with the exception of Brunei, have placed troops in the Spratlys to strengthen their claim.42 It is China’s establishment of military garrisons on some islands claimed by ASEAN members, together with China’s modernization of its military, which has been the cause of much concern. The fear is that rather than seeking a diplomatic solution, China is simply biding its time until its military capability allows it to realize its irredentist ambitions.

China’s actions in the South China Sea – which have included the sinking of three Vietnamese ships in 1988 and the establishment of military facilities

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