Representatives from China, the United States and Europe head to Asia this weekend for what will most likely be a contentious meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum. The organization, composed of 10 Southeast Asian nations, forms a formidable bloc in a region whose conflicts increasingly impact the world economy and international relations. 

Like Us on Facebook

Maritime border disputes are already a sticking point, with China at the center. China recently removed a controversial oil rig from Vietnam's territorial waters, but its presence set off still-burning anti-China sentiment not only in Hanoi, but all over the region. A separate conflict between China and Japan over a set of islets near Taiwan in the East China Sea threatens the security of all three polities.

A five-way tussle over the oil-rich Paracel and Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, the whole of which China now claims, also threatens to turn the forum into a shouting match. One-third of the world's shipping transits the strategic stretch of ocean reaching from Taiwan in the north to Singapore in the South. The United States, militarily allied to several ASEAN nations, is actively working to keep ensure shipping lanes remain open, a move China sees as meddling.

Questions over North Korea also promise to keep China up front and center. Kim Jong Un's continued belligerence and threat of nuclear attack has created brisk conversations in Bejing and Washington of North Korean contingencies, i.e. political turmoil in the country or outright collapse. Even a theoretical unified Korean peninsula led by Seoul is seen as a diminishing of Chinese influence in the region. Beijing sees Pyongyang as a buffer, however antagonistic, against America as well as component of strategic leverage. 

All this is against the backdrop of forum host Myanmar. The head of ASEAN's rotating leadership, Myanmar is praised for ending decades of military rule. However, religious persecutions of Muslims in its south and the continued political isolation of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, currently barred from running for president because she is married to a foreigner, are potential tripping points.

Twenty-seven nations are expected to attend the forum, including other Asian players such as India, Russia, and Australia. The ASEAN Regional Forum runs August 9th and 10th. 

TagsASEAN