Asean, the preferred choice

Busy minister: Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, part of the Malaysian delegation accompanying Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on his trip to Italy, being introduced to Italian leader Georgia Meloni. The working trip to Italy took place just days before Mohamad takes the reins of the Asean Foreign Ministers annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur, which begins on Tuesday. — Facebook/AnwarIbrahim

KUALA Lumpur has been experiencing hotter than usual weather in the last few weeks, with scattered rain showers hardly providing any relief for city dwellers. And with the new electricity tariff that kicked in on July 1, many are wondering how much higher their next bill will be with the expected increase in energy consumption to keep themselves cool.

This is not a weather report, neither is this column discussing how much your next electricity bill will be. For sure this week will see the temperature rising at the venue of the annual Asean foreign ministers meeting which Malaysia, as Asean Chair this year, is hosting.

Top diplomats from Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States will meet, each having his or her own agenda to bring to the table.

Before we go into geopolitical issues, let’s break down what will happen between July 8 and 11 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre where the 58th Asean Ministerial Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings are taking place.

It will be a hectic four days as Asean foreign ministers meet to discuss and follow up on the decisions made by leaders at the 46th Asean Summit in May – this includes the accession of Timor Leste as the 11th member of the grouping, which is set to take place at the 47th Asean Summit in October.

Timor Leste’s membership was questioned yet again recently when a foreign news report said Myanmar is against its inclusion.

A senior Malaysian official said as far as the chair is concerned, a consensus was reached at the May summit to admit Timor Leste.

“That train has left the station. You should have raised your objection or abstained during the meeting. We have already decided,” said the official.

After their meeting, Asean foreign ministers will meet 11 dialogue partners in separate sessions, known as the Post Minis-terial Conference (PMC). US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is currently on his first Asian tour, will be flying into town for the Asean-US meeting. He is also expected to join his counterparts from across the globe for a series of other meetings.

The PMC sessions are held to review cooperation between Asean and its dialogue partners, including upgrading relations with the grouping.

But what comes after the PMC will be the interesting sessions: the 15th East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers meeting, and the 32nd Asean Regional Forum (ARF).

The EAS comprises 18 member countries: the 10 Asean countries and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States. Timor Leste will be attending as an observer.

The ARF consists of 27 countries: Asean (plus Timor Leste) and Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, North Korea, South Korea, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Sri Lanka and the United States. North Korea’s presence, though, is in doubt since Malaysia severed diplomatic ties with the country in 2021.

Participation at the EAS and ARF is mostly at the foreign ministers’ level. In the past some countries, already at odds over border disputes, would raise their bilateral problems, especially at the ARF. So expect some sparks to occur.

“When the EAS and ARF are convened, participants will exchange views on regional and international developments, and normally the countries will state their countries’ position.

“Say one country expresses its views on the situation in the South China Sea and tries to point fingers at China, don’t expect Beijing to take it lying down. Sometimes these super powers don’t care, they will voice out objections. That is normal and to be expected.

“But the point is that the EAS and ARF provide platforms where countries can have a dialogue although they may not necessarily agree on everything. At least it is a good platform for constructive engagement,” said a senior diplomat.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, as chair of the AMM, has one request for countries that want to raise bilateral problems like borders: find another forum.

“I hope that the ARF will not be the venue for them to ‘talk’ to each other. It is not fair to bring their bilateral issues to the ARF, it is not the right forum,” he said.

Mohamad conceded that issues like the South China Sea territorial dispute will be on the table. Negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea among claimant states have taken many years.

Mohamad pointed out that communications channels among the countries must always be kept open.

The South China Sea dispute has been a contentious issue at Asean meetings for several years as Malaysia – along with affected Asean members Brunei, the Philippines, and Vietnam – is claiming a stake in the area. Taiwan is another claimant party.

Malaysia’s position on the South China Sea issue is clear and has always been consistent. We are a claimant state, and Malaysia takes the position that all claims must be based on and resolved in accordance with international law, in particular the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The ARF, which started in 1994, is meant to foster constructive dialogue and consultation on political and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region, with the goal of promoting confidence-building and preventive diplomacy.

But there have been criticisms that the ARF has not moved much beyond confidence-building measures. The next stages would involve preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution.

One Asean official said the fact that the 27 countries are attending the ARF and giving their views at the forum is in itself an achievement.

“We keep on talking and keep on building trust, I think that in itself is an achievement. The ARF is the premier security forum in the region and is led by Asean.

“We can’t solve all the problems in the world, but we can acknowledge some of the problems and try to resolve some of them and bring those parties to the table.

“The channels of communication, trust, dialogue, familiarity come from the horse’s mouth rather than from a second source. It is a good way to understand the nations and where they are coming from. That is important,” he said.

During this AMM, two more countries, Algeria and Uruguay, will sign the Asean Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, paving the way to deepen and expand cooperation with Asean.

The region is on track to be the fourth largest economy by 2030 and offers a big market with 650 million people. By the end of the year, it will be Asean 11 with the expected addition of Timor Leste.

More countries are opening their missions in Jakarta, where the Asean Secretariat is based. There are also strategic reasons for doing so.

There is no question why Asean is still the preferred choice for many countries and no denying its convening power in managing geopolitical and security issues.