ASEAN was founded at the height of the Cold War to contain communism, but it now counts communist countries among its members. From the 2000s, China began to court the group more actively through trade and investment, and Asia’s largest economy is currently ASEAN’s biggest trading partner.
The South China Sea issue has emerged as a flash point of conflict between ASEAN and China — and within the group. Four ASEAN countries are claimants to parts of the waterway, while China claims sovereignty over the entire area.
In 2012, the 10 states failed to issue a joint statement for the first time in the group’s history because the nations couldn’t agree on how to deal with China’s claims.
The South China Sea is also the site of tension between the two largest economies in the world. While the United States says it does not take sides in territorial disputes, it has sent ships and planes near contested islands, calling them “freedom of navigation” operations. This year, it sent one of its nuclear-powered aircraft carriers into Vietnamese waters for the first time since the end of the Vietnam war. China followed with what it called the largest naval display of its kind.
China’s growing clout is unnerving some Southeast Asian countries. For one, Indonesia, the group’s largest economy, is now lobbying ASEAN to patrol its waters.
Still, the dynamics of ASEAN’s internal and external relationships with countries are continually evolving. Although the Philippines had fought China in an international legal case about the South China Sea, Duterte has pursued stronger ties with Beijing.
Some ASEAN countries like Vietnam are also reaching out to new allies. Additionally, Australia held its first special summit with the group in March, during which Indonesian President Joko Widodo openly endorsed Australia possibly joining the ASEAN.
