01/2017 PANORAMA INSIGHTS INTO ASIAN AND EUROPEAN AFFAIRS ASEAN AT 50 A LOOK AT ITS EXTERNAL RELATIONS K o n r a d A d e n a u e r S t i f t u n g Panorama InsIghts Into asIan and euroPean affaIrs asean at 50 Panorama: Insights into Asian and European Affairs is a series of occasional papers published by the Konrad- Adenauer-Stiftung’s “Regional Programme Political Dialogue Asia/Singapore”. © 2017 Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Singapore Editors: Christian Echle, Megha Sarmah, Frederick Kliem Publisher: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Ltd 36 Bukit Pasoh Road Singapore 089848 Registration Number: 201228783N Tel: (65) 6603-6160 Tel: (65) 6227-8343 Email: [email protected] Website: www.kas.de/singapore All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Manuscript offers, review copies, exchange journals, and requests for subscription are to be sent to the editors. The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the authors and their interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Cover photographs clockwise from top left © Romeo Gacad / Reuters © Theeradaj S. / iStock © Mark Crisanto / Reuters Design, Layout and Typeset: Select Books Pte Ltd 65A, Jalan Tenteram #02-06, St Michael’s Industrial Estate Singapore 328958 Website: www.selectbooks.com.sg Panorama InsIghts Into asIan and euroPean affaIrs asean at 50 a Look at Its external relations Contents Preface 7 ASEAN at 50: Looking Back to Move Forward 9 Le Luong Minh ASEAN Community Building – What It Really Means to be a Community 19 Noel M. Morada ASEAN@50: New Challenges in Search of Solutions 31 Tang Siew Mun The ASEAN Regional Forum 43 M. C. Abad, Jr Challenges Facing ASEAN Defence Ministers 55 Termsak Chalermpalanupap ASEAN-led Regional Institutions in the Era of “the Rest of Asia” 67 Tsutomu Kikuchi ASEAN’s Cooperation with the European Union – ASEM and Beyond 81 Yeo Lay Hwee Japan-ASEAN Relations: Challenges, Impact and Strategic Options 95 Bhubhindar Singh India-ASEAN Relations: An Assessment 107 Pankaj K. Jha EU-ASEAN Relations: Taking Stock of a Comprehensive Inter-regional Relationship between Natural Partners 125 Jörn Dosch and Naila Maier-Knapp US-ASEAN Relations in a Changing Global Context 139 Michael G. Plummer New Zealand and ASEAN Relations 153 Mark G. Rolls Preface Creating and maintaining peace is probably the most noble and most difficult task that politicians everywhere around the world face. One of the many complexities in this task is the fact that it can never be achieved by a state alone – all states need to manage and nurture complex multi-dimensional relationships with neighbouring countries. Many countries have a history of war and conflict with their neighbours, and in the 1960s, many states in Southeast Asia were no exceptions to this rule. Given the circumstances, the foresight and achievements of the founders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) cannot be over-emphasised. For, in the last fifty years, ASEAN has emerged as a beacon of hope for unity in the region. It has maintained peace and geo- political stability among its members and deepened mutually beneficial relations with more than ten Dialogue Partners and other external parties so as to support integration efforts in the region. ASEAN has come a long way in the last five decades – having been created at the height of the Cold War with five members, it has now transformed itself into a regional organisation encompassing all countries in Southeast Asia. Despite significant geopolitical shifts in the intervening years, ASEAN has occupied a central role in re- gional geopolitics and been the main driver for regional cooperation. With its guiding principles of non-interference in domestic affairs, consultation, and consensus, and its decision-making model, ASEAN has been successful in building trust and confidence among its member states. This has also allowed the group to gradually expand its agenda while increasing cooperation in the region and beyond. While ASEAN’s impressive track record of five decades is rightly the focus of attention, we should not forget that this year also marks the 40th anniversary of rela- tions between the European Union (EU) and ASEAN. Today, the bilateral ties between these two highly successful regional integration processes cover a wide range of ar- eas, ranging from politics and economics to development, trade and investment, and cultural affairs. With growing political will and institutional capacities in both blocs, there is further potential for strengthening cooperation and dialogue. This is especially pertinent given that the world is experiencing challenges to the US’s global leadership on many levels. For the EU and ASEAN, this provides a great opportunity to define common goals and revitalise practical cooperation, with the ultimate aim of creating common EU-ASEAN-driven initiatives. However, as the world faces new global security uncertainties and a shifting global balance of power, ASEAN needs to re-examine its structures and relations to current realties if it is to play an effective role in the future. Its achievements are currently being Preface challenged. ASEAN has been able to make great progress on the economic integration aspect, but this cannot cover up certain shortcomings in the other pillars and especially 7 the external pressures on its unity. Is the 50th anniversary of ASEAN therefore an opportune time to start a reform of its core principles? While they have served ASEAN well in enhancing intraregional integration, they may actually hinder its external rela- tions and weaken the organisation’s ability to respond decisively to events that may cause destabilisations or divisions in the grouping. This is particularly apparent in the current volatile environment, in which actions of interference by outsiders are obvious. The return of great-power competition to the region will create a critical juncture for smaller states if they are not part of a regional integration process. In this issue of Panorama: Insights into Asian and European Affairs, we reflect on ASEAN’s achievements in the last five decades, challenges it has overcome, and the prospects ahead. Special emphasis has been placed on ASEAN’s relations with several of its dialogue partners in the ever-changing global landscape. We have the honour and privilege of having His Excellency Le Luong Minh, the current ASEAN Secretary- General, contribute the first chapter to this issue of our journal. Despite the changing global landscape and complexities ahead, ASEAN is building deeper synergies in the region and it will continue to do well and thrive in the coming decades. Christian Echle Director, Regional Programme Political Dialogue Asia Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung ASEAN at 50: A Look at Its External Relations A ASEAN at 50: 8 ASEAN at 50: Looking Back to Move Forward Le Luong Minh Evolution Through Major Milestones Established through the signing of the Bangkok Declaration on 8 August 1967 when the Cold War was raging wild and tensions among its would-be members were still running deep, the birth of ASEAN manifested the aspiration of the peoples of Southeast Asia for regional peace and prosperity, which has been the determining factor of success of its constant evolution over the past five decades. From a tender beginning Set out with a loose and minimal institutional structure that evolved around the an- nual ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (AMM), ASEAN’s first decade was mainly dedicated to norms-building through instruments such as the 1971 Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality Declaration (ZOPFAN), and especially the 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). The fundamental principles of peace- ful co-existence and pacific settlement of disputes as prescribed in these instruments include respect for national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, non- interference, and non-threat or use of force. Together with the TAC, the 1976 Declaration of ASEAN Concord (Bali Concord I) adopted at the first ever ASEAN Summit on 24 February 1976, reflects a grow- ing confidence in the ASEAN project among the Member States. The Bali Concord I agreed to expand ASEAN cooperation in the economic, social, cultural, and political fields and recognized the need to build ASEAN institutions, including the meetings of the ASEAN Leaders and the establishment of the ASEAN Secretariat. Building on the impetus from the Bali Concord I, ASEAN cooperation in the next two decades expanded to economic and other functional areas with the establishment of various ASEAN sectoral bodies, e.g., science and technology, environment, health, energy, law, and information. Of notable importance were concrete steps towards deep- ening intra-ASEAN economic integration as a paradigm shift to reinvent ASEAN after ASEAN at 50: Looking Back to Move Forward the end of the Cold War. A key milestone in this regard was the creation of the 1992 9 * This paper was submitted on 26 July 2017. ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) which aimed to reduce and eventually abolish all tariffs in intra-ASEAN trade. The end of the Cold War also enabled ASEAN enlargement to encompass all Southeast Asian countries of different political systems, economic structures, and reli- gious beliefs. Bringing together under one roof all the countries (Timor-Leste was then still part of a Member State) in one of the most diverse regions in the world constituted a historic achievement for the organization. To a rules-based Community With ASEAN having its footprint across Southeast Asia and enhanced aggregate strength, intra-regional cooperation continued to be expanded and deepened in all ar- eas.