Our Visiting Scholar Pham Ngoc Minh Trang recently published an article on Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative about the role of Vietnam as chair at ASEAN. Below is an excerpt from the article. Read the entire article.
ASEAN and the South China Sea: Vietnam's Role as Chair
On November 4, the ASEAN chair’s gavel was passed to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam at the closing ceremony of the grouping’s annual summit in Bangkok. Vietnam will serve as the chair of ASEAN, the most important international organization in Southeast Asia, through 2020. This will be a crucial year for the grouping as it attempts to reach the goals set forth in the ASEAN Vision 2020, which was released in 1997 and envisions the establishment of a region of peace, prosperity, and stability. It is especially significant for Vietnam because the chairmanship will offer a unique opportunity to engage the region to take constructive action on the South China Sea disputes which have long threatened regional peace and security. With the chairmanship in hand, now is the time for Hanoi to be more active in fulfilling both its regional and its national responsibilities in the South China Sea.
The South China Sea Is an ASEAN Problem
Vietnam will need to work hard to convince others in the region that ASEAN must take action on the South China Sea. On October 9, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia stated that certain countries should not expect ASEAN to act like a court and solve the problems in the South China Sea, as it is not the function of the organization. This is partly true—ASEAN is not an international judicial body. But that does not mean that ASEAN can avoid its responsibility to facilitate the settlement of disputes.
The ASEAN Charter makes clear that issues such as the disputes in the South China Sea are of concern to all of ASEAN. According to Article 1 of the charter, one of the organization’s primary purposes is to “maintain and enhance peace, security and stability…in the region.” The term “the region” interpreted per Article 2 of the charter, can be understood as referring to all geographical locations where member states enjoy sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction, including the land, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf, and airspace of all ASEAN countries. Thus, the South China Sea neatly falls into the geographical sphere of ASEAN.
Second, the terms “peace, security, and stability” repeatedly mentioned in the charter signify a broad ambitious mission of ASEAN. For example, in the preamble, it is stated that its is ASEAN’s desire and collective will “to live in a region of lasting peace, security, and stability, sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and social progress.” Article 1.8 stipulates further that ASEAN must respond effectively to all forms of threats. The meaning of those terms goes beyond the scope of traditional security, which is related solely to situations of armed conflict. In fact, they express the role of ASEAN in any situation which may cause harm to any aspect of the region, including economic, political, social, or even environmental aspects. It is not difficult to prove that the situation in the South China Sea is harming many of these regional interests, whose defense is defined as being a primary purpose of ASEAN. Therefore, the South China Sea disputes are the concern of the whole group, and ASEAN must play a role in their settlement accordingly.
Even more directly, Article 2 of the charter addresses the principles of cooperation, shared commitment, and collective responsibility to protect the harmonious and prosperous environment of the region. It is also an obligation of ASEAN member states, according to Article 5, to take all necessary measures to implement the provisions of the charter. Hence member states of the group must acknowledge the fact that they cannot abdicate a shared responsibility to address the situation in the South China Sea. The state serving as chair has a particular responsibility to organize action to this effect.