Opinion

As South China Sea tensions rise, China’s participation in Asean naval exercise raises hope of calmer waters

Yang Zi and Li Mingjiang say the joint maritime exercise highlights the warming of China-Asean relations as the Belt and Road Initiative makes inroads

However, it does not imply that Asean is leaning towards China and away from the US, with a range of disagreements yet to be resolved

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Chinese sailors (in white) visit the Singapore Navy frigate RSS Stalwart during the Asean-China Maritime Exercise at a military port in Zhanjiang, in China's southern Guangdong province, on October 24. Photo: STR / AFP

Published: 1:15pm, 6 Nov 2018Updated: 8:27pm, 6 Nov 2018

It was not so long ago that tensions between some Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries and China were high, largely because of South China Sea disputes. For years, there were dangerous conflicts between China and some Asean claimants to parts of the South China Sea that resulted in the deterioration of relations between China and these neighbouring countries.

In the past year or so, however, the situation has changed. In a world of rising instability and unpredictability, the demand for regional cooperation and order is now on the rise, especially in Southeast Asia, a region that has prospered peacefully after decades as a cold war battleground.

Relations between China and Asean nations have been improving in the recent past, particularly after China became a keen investor, pouring in billions of dollars into the region’s infrastructure and connectivity projects as part of the Belt and Road Initiative that Beijing launched in late 2013.