Australia’s offer to fund Asean security must be met with extreme caution

In playing up the China threat and sowing the seeds of discontent, Australia has missed an opportunity to show its maturity as a regional stakeholder at its recent summit with Asean in Melbourne.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong talked about “the most confronting circumstances in our region in decades”, including “destabilising, provocative and coercive actions”, in comments that did not name China but were clearly aimed at it.

Announcing A$286.5 million (US$186.7 million) in funding for Asean projects in areas including maritime security, Wong added that: “What happens in the South China Sea, in the Taiwan Strait, in the Mekong subregion, across the Indo-Pacific, affects us all.”

At the Melbourne summit, the Philippines, which has increasingly been clashing with China over their South China Sea claims, called for a stronger united stand in upholding the maritime rule of law. Malaysia is resisting the pressure to choose sides, however, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim saying: “We do not have a problem with China.”