China Seeks Upgrade of ASEAN Relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership at November Summit
After 30 years of dialogue with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China is reportedly seeking to upgrade that relationship as its ties to the region deepen. It also comes as the United States tries to boost its own ties in Southeast Asia and wrest the area from Chinese influence.
The pitch, made on the sidelines of the ASEAN virtual summit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, was revealed by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his official remarks in which he expressed in-principle support for China upgrading its relationship with the bloc to a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” according to Straits-Times.
The meeting would reportedly take place next month and be attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has also expressed support for the idea, according to the South China Morning Post.
However, not all were immediately ready. Thailand has taken a more cautious approach, with government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana telling Bloomberg the country wants the South China Sea Code of Conduct to be in place to guarantee “effective, substantive and in accordance with international law” before formally deepening relations with Beijing.
The document, long in the negotiating phase, hit an important milestone in August when another section of the document was agreed upon. The code of conduct would lay out a framework for settling nautical disputes in the South China Sea, where China, Taiwan, and several ASEAN members have overlapping claims on islands and the sea lanes surrounding them. These lead to regular confrontations involving fishing fleets, petroleum exploration vessels, and warships conducting maritime maneuvers.
Pressure to make progress on the code of conduct increased earlier this year amid a weeks-long showdown over Whitsun Reef, a small island in the Spratly chain claimed by the Philippines and China where a Chinese fishing fleet anchored, claiming to be seeking shelter from stormy weather.
China has grown closer to ASEAN’s 10 member states since it was admitted as an observer in 1991, becoming its largest trading partner last year, Lee said in his remarks. That trend will only continue as China’s Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure megaproject continues to expand. The highly anticipated opening of a new high-speed rail line connecting Kunming, the capital of China’s southern Yunnan Province with Vientiane, capital of the mountainous landlocked country of Laos, 1,013 kilometers away, is the latest such example.
Li noted in his remarks to the bloc’s leaders that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest free trade bloc, would soon enter force after a sixth nation, ASEAN chair Brunei, ratified it earlier this month.
The deal can enter force once 15 countries ratify it; so far Thailand, Singapore, China, Japan, Cambodia, and Brunei have done so, meaning it needs three more from ASEAN and one other before it can take effect. Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a tour of the region urging RCEP’s ratification, focusing especially on Vietnam, which is being courted especially strongly by the United States.
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