by Ganesh Sahathevan
Anthony Albanese led by Penny Wong is going to alienate Australia from the rest of this region with his latest pro-China, anti-US stance.
Albanese and Wong seem to think that they are providing ASEAN with a novel idea but their "multipolar" and "multilateral" world is not novel in that region for ASEAN following Nehru and India has always declared itself non-aligned. However while ASEAN leaders have from time to time expressed a desire in this region for a "multipolar" and "multilateral" world ithey have especially over the last 30 years acted to encourage a greater US presence because of the threat of China.
It was in fact Lee Kuan Yew who said that Singapore (and ASEAN) rely on the United States being "Number One" to maintain the peace with China, so that they can keep doing business with everyone including China. In his words:
China will not let an international court arbitrate territorial disputes in the South China Sea, so the presence of U.S. firepower in the Asia-Pacific will be necessary if the U.N. Law of the Sea is to prevail.
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It is for that reason that there is a strong US Navy and Airfroce presence in Singapore.
https://lnkd.in/g7ESS58A).
The Alabanese -Wong fantasy of is an Australia-China partnership that will see China doing as it likes in the South China Sea and with Taiwan, while Australia continues to export coal ,iron ore and anythng else required by Chin. It may not however be in the interest of countries in this region to let that happen.
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The Albanese -Wong initiative, which Wong sells in terms of "ASEAN centrality" is the most recent incarnation of Kevin Rudd's failed attempts to cerate a a China centred Asia Pacific Community.
As the Strait Times Singapore reported in 2009:
Mr Rudd's proposa (for a new regional body in Asia) l represents Canberra's second bid to create the Asia-Pacific Community. In June last year, he put forward a similar proposal at a meeting of the Asia Society in Canberra.
Not many Asian countries, however, have been receptive to Mr Rudd's proposal. Many of them think that the new regional body will undermine the strategic importance of Asean and its related bodies, such as the Asean Regional Forum and Asean Plus Three.
This latest Wong-Albanese initiative will only add to the lack of trust ASEAN has in proposals put by Australian leaders. It does add to the sentiment among ASEAN business people of Australians in general being a bit too clever in their dealings with them. All this comes at a times when there is clearly a lack of trust in Washingtom for Australia as an ally.
Australia to hold meet in bid for platform to tackle Asia-Pac issues
ASIA needs to form a new regional body to tackle a growing host of challenges, from the current global financial crisis to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said yesterday.
To push forward Australia's bid to form the so-called Asia-Pacific Community, Canberra will convene a conference after the East Asia Summit and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings later this year.
The so-called 'track one-and-a-half' meeting will involve government officials, academics and opinion-makers. Typically, Track One meetings involve government officials, while Track Two meetings are informal modes of diplomacy involving scholars and retired civil servants.
Addressing defence officials, military officers and journalists at the Shangri-La Dialogue last night, Mr Rudd stressed that Asia needed to start a 'regional conversation' about the Asia-Pacific Community.
'Absent such a body, I am concerned in the long term about the possibility of strategic drift within our region - or even worse, strategic polarisation; polarisation which I believe serves nobody's interests,' he said.
Mr Rudd's argument was straightforward: Currently, no regional body in Asia covered all issues pertinent to Asia-Pacific countries.
The Asia-Pacific Community will bring together key nations in the region. It will include Indonesia, India, China, Japan and the United States, and have the mandate to engage across a 'full spectrum' of security, economic and political challenges.
The new regional body will achieve progress on three major fronts: regional financial and economic integration, cooperation on security; as well as act as a forum for a range of 'non-traditional threats' such as food security and climate change.
The new body will provide the best forum for regional cooperation, said Mr Rudd, noting that cooperation in the current financial crisis and in Asean over time had reaped immense benefits.
Mr Rudd's proposal represents Canberra's second bid to create the Asia-Pacific Community. In June last year, he put forward a similar proposal at a meeting of the Asia Society in Canberra.
Not many Asian countries, however, have been receptive to Mr Rudd's proposal. Many of them think that the new regional body will undermine the strategic importance of Asean and its related bodies, such as the Asean Regional Forum and Asean Plus Three.
Earlier this week, for example, Indonesia's Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono dismissed Mr Rudd's proposal, adding that the idea was too broad to have a realistic chance of success.
Addressing such concerns, Mr Rudd noted that there was some 'disagreement' over the issue, but stressed that his proposal was meant to stimulate a 'discussion' on the issue.
'An Asia-Pacific Community could be seen as a natural broadening of the processes of confidence- and community-building in South-east Asia led by Asean, while Asean itself would of course remain central to the region and would also be an important part of any future Asia-Pacific Community.'
Asia needed to 'actively' build the regional security architecture, rather than adopt a passive, 'wait and see' approach, Mr Rudd argued.
'I do not believe we can afford to sit idly by while the region simply evolves - without any sense of strategic purpose. In fact, I believe that is potentially dangerous.'
Like Singapore, Australia wanted to make a solid contribution to the regional and global order.
'Singapore is a model of how countries can use their best assets - their people and ideas - to make a contribution to the regional and global order and always with a refreshingly clear realist perspective,' he said.
Mr Rudd is the first political leader outside Asean to open the Shangri-La Dialogue.
Yesterday, he met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. During their meeting, both PM Lee and Mr Rudd reaffirmed the importance of bilateral relations. Both leaders agreed to work together to strengthen regional processes such as the East Asia Summit.
They also discussed international issues, including the impact of the global financial and economic crisis.
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