Australia-Asean summit exposed more than desire for economic deals

The recent Australia-Asean summit in Melbourne was illuminating in areas of economic cooperation as well as hot-button geopolitical issues
Agreeing on greater trade and investment was easy, but the South China Sea and Israel’s war in Gaza showed the wide diversity in opinion among attendees

Richard Heydarian

Published: 3:30pm, 12 Mar 2024

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“The Special Summit marks a profound milestone in the partnership between Asean and Australia,” the leaders of Australia and Southeast Asian nations declared during their gathering in Melbourne to commemorate the 50th year of bilateral relations.

The gathering was both wide-ranging and forward-looking. Both sides committed to long-term strategic partnership on a whole host of issues, including infrastructure connectivity, green energy transition, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief capacity-building and people-to-people ties.

As a sign of its commitment to the region, Australia also committed A$2 billion (US$1.3 billion) to boosting bilateral trade and investment ties with Southeast Asia. The summit, however, took place in the shadow of multiple geopolitical flashpoints, which revealed profound fault lines not only between Canberra and Asean nations but also among Southeast Asian nations themselves.

Muslim-majority Asean states advocated for a tougher stance on Israel’s conduct and the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Meanwhile, there were also deep divisions within Asean over the South China Sea disputes.

Amid yet another major incident in disputed waters, the Philippines hoped to rally international support in its ongoing maritime struggle with China. But other key members such as Malaysia, which is also a claimant state, insisted they have no problems with China, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reiterating his warning against “China-phobia”.

In many ways, the summit marked a crowning diplomatic achievement for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s administration. It underscored Canberra’s renewed focus on Southeast Asia as a main thrust of its foreign policy agenda while also affirming Australia’s strategic relevance to a whole host of dynamic and geopolitically relevant nations.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh embrace at the end of a joint statement at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on March 7. Australia has elevated its ties with Vietnam to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Photo: EPA-EFE

In 2018, then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull organised the inaugural Australia-Asean summit to usher in a new era of strategic partnership. However, the positive momentum generated by the high-profile gathering was largely undermined by the conservative Scott Morrison administration, which alienated some Asean nations with its confrontational approach to China and its focus on the major powers, most notably the Quad with the United States, India and Japan.

Fresh into office, the Albanese administration wasted no chance to win back the region. The Australian leader, together with Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles, visited multiple Southeast Asian capitals just months after winning the 2022 elections.

That year, Marles made it clear during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that Asean will be “completely central” to his country’s strategic priorities. Meanwhile, the Malaysia-born and Bahasa-speaking Wong launched a charm offensive across the region, where she was welcomed like a rock star.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (centre) and his wife Wan Azizah Ismail (left) react as Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong gets up to speak during an event at the Australian National University in Canberra on March 7. Photo: AFP

There is much at stake for both sides. People-to-people ties are robust, with residents of Southeast Asian origin among the largest minority groups in Australia.

Australia-Asean trade reached A$178 billion in 2022. Australia’s trade with the region is bigger than its total trade with the European Union, the US and Japan. Two-way total stock of investments, meanwhile, reached A$289.7 billion in the same period, underscoring Southeast Asia’s centrality to Australia’s economic future.

Prominent Australian strategists are advocating for even closer bilateral ties, including Australia’s membership in Asean. To further boost bilateral ties, Canberra established a A$2 billion finance facility during the special summit with Asean leaders. The two sides also signed up to a variety of joint initiatives, with a focus on connectivity, green technology and educational cooperation.

Geopolitical issues, however, have exposed deep fault lines within the partnership. Muslim-majority nations wanted a tough stance on Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, but others preferred more calibrated language to avoid diplomatic tensions with Israel. Ultimately, both sides settled on a more generic stance, which condemned “attacks against all civilians and civilian infrastructure” without singling out any specific party. Participants did end up agreeing to a joint call for “an immediate and durable humanitarian ceasefire” ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.

But there were even starker divisions when it came to China, particularly the ongoing South China Sea disputes. Ahead of the special summit, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr delivered an impassioned speech before the Australian Parliament, where he described his country as a frontline state against a resurgent China.

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‘We will not yield’: Marcos Jnr says Manila will not give up ‘one square inch’ of South China Sea

Vowing to remain steadfast in defending the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the South China Sea, he called on Australia and other like-minded powers to stand with his country and jointly uphold a rules-based order in Asia. The issue gained further prominence following reports that a Chinese coastguard vessel injured several Philippine Navy personnel with water cannon during yet another encounter in the disputed waters.

Far from standing with the Philippines, however, Malaysia took an opposing stance on the issue. Having called China an “important ally”, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warned Australia should not “preclude us from being friendly to one of our important neighbours, precisely China”. He also played down the South China Sea disputes by maintaining, “We do not have a problem with China.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) welcomes Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to the Asean-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, Australia, on March 4. An increasingly assertive China and the humanitarian crises in Myanmar and Gaza were high on the summit agenda. Photo: AP

Just months earlier, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong criticised the Marcos administration’s stance against China by warning the Philippines, “are you sure you want to get into a fight where you will be the battleground?”

With little evidence of a firm backing for the Philippines’ stance, the final communique only generically encouraged “all countries to avoid any unilateral actions that endanger peace, security and stability in the region” and to “properly manage differences” based on dialogue and international law.

Overall, the summit was just as successful in underscoring shared interest in deepened economic cooperation as it was in exposing geopolitical fault lines on most pressing flashpoints in the region and beyond.

Richard Heydarian is a Manila-based academic and author of Asia’s New Battlefield: US, China and the Struggle for Western Pacific, and the forthcoming Duterte’s Rise