ASEAN and China form strategic partnership

ASEAN and China form strategic partnership

Jusuf Wanandi, Jakarta

A new era has dawned in East Asia. ASEAN and China have forged
a Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity. This
partnership will have positive implications that go beyond the
relationship between ASEAN and China. It will benefit the wider
East Asian region and the world. The strategic partnership is a
means to making an effective contribution to regional and global
peace and prosperity.

ASEAN and China will play an increasingly important role in
global affairs. They also have a growing stake in global
developments. They are open economies and are rapidly integrating
into the global economy. They want to cooperate with each other
so that their full integration into the global economy can
proceed smoothly -- for each of them and without causing major
dislocations within the global economy.

The economies of ASEAN, and particularly China, because of its
size, will assume a more prominent place in the global economy
within the next two decades. The ASEAN countries will
continuously reform, restructure and integrate their economies
toward the creation of a single market and production base in
2020.

China, on its part, is making the same effort, and is doing
that at a remarkably rapid pace. ASEAN and China can benefit from
each other's experiments and experiences. The Framework Agreement
for ASEAN-China Closer Economic Relations provides a forum for
such productive and open exchanges. They should be undertaken on
a regular basis with the involvement of experts from academia,
business and the policy community -- from both sides as well as
from the wider region.

The transformation of the economies of ASEAN and China may be
one of the major developments in the 21st century. Both sides
must make a special effort to prevent misperceptions and
misunderstandings regarding their development by the global
community.

ASEAN and China will need to participate actively in various
regional cooperation arrangements, the ASEAN Plus Three, the East
Asian Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC), as well as in the international
arena -- the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and
other such bodies. Their increased role in regional and global
affairs will shape and be shaped by the emerging regional and
evolving international regimes.

ASEAN and China can have a greater influence if they
coordinate and harmonize their policies and activities. They can
help create a globalization environment that will better
facilitate the pursuit for progress of all developing countries.
The strategic position of ASEAN and China in those regional and
international bodies should be employed to the maximum. They
should initiate and actively engage other regional and
international participants in the discussion, formulation and
implementation of action plans.

To be effective, ASEAN and China have to develop and nurture
good relations with other powers in the region, in particular
Japan, the United States and India. In this context, ASEAN is in
a favorable position, because it has excellent economic and
political relations with other regional countries, Japan, Korea,
India, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the United States
and the European Union.

ASEAN has pursued regional cooperation and integration in
Southeast Asia and, at the same time, deepened its relations with
all its partners. This reflects its policy of open regionalism,
which should also characterize the ASEAN-China strategic
partnership. In building an ASEAN Community, ASEAN governments
have agreed to intensify the engagement of civil society in
regional community building.

The strengthening of the ASEAN-China partnership also
necessitates greater people-to-people interaction and
cooperation. The voices of the people should also be brought to
the attention of governments. A second track ASEAN-China
collaboration should be encouraged and facilitated by
governments, and be invited to develop ideas and make concrete
suggestions to substantiate the strategic partnership.

Economic, political and security issues have become
intertwined. Many new cross-border security issues directly
affect the people. Although ASEAN and China need to give
attention to traditional security issues, such as on the Korean
Peninsula, it is the new security issues that require their
priority attention. These include trans-border environmental
problems, cross-border health issues, drug and people
trafficking, smuggling and piracy.

They pose a real threat to the security of the peoples in the
region, but they can become sources of conflict among states.
These issues form a part of the agenda of the ASEAN Regional
Forum, and the time has come for this forum to develop mechanisms
for conflict prevention beyond the confidence-building measures.
ASEAN and China can initiate this process as both parties have
developed a high degree of trust and confidence. Others will then
be encouraged to enhance their participation in this forum.

ASEAN and China are also faced with the common challenge of
political development so as to be able to sustain their longer-
term economic and national developments. Their open economies
need to be accompanied by a gradual opening up of political
systems. Some ASEAN countries have begun this process and can
share their experience with other ASEAN countries and China.

Recent experience in the region has shown that nations that
are ill-prepared to undergo political transformation have
experienced great and costly disruptions. Open exchanges on these
challenges can be facilitated by the second-track. Such exchanges
can make important contributions to political development in the
two parties because of the mutual trust and mutual understanding
that have developed between them.

ASEAN and China must not forgo this historic moment in their
relationship. They have produced a variety of initiatives that
can further strengthen their mutual trust and mutual
understanding. However, they must rightly focus on the strategic
initiatives of working together to deepen their relations and at
the same time be actively engaged to promote cooperation, peace
and prosperity in the wider region.

The vehicles for doing so are there. They must be willing to
make the investment to develop mechanisms to realize the East
Asian regional objectives, strengthening of trans-Pacific
relations through APEC, and productive interactions with other
regions in the world through ASEM and FEALAC.

The writer is vice chairman of the Board of Trustees and a
senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS), Jakarta.