US-Asean maritime cooperation down to practical levels

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MANILA, Philippines — The maritime cooperation between the United States and Asean members would include training for practical applications like monitoring illegal fishing and search and rescue operations, according to Daniel Kritenbrink, US assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

This is contained in the Joint Vision Statement crafted in the recently-concluded US-Asean Special Summit.

“There is a focus on practical cooperation in the maritime domain. Part of that is represented by the new programs that were announced in our factsheet, that would be implemented by the Coast Guard, which are focused on developing the capacity and the capabilities of our partners in the region to achieve maritime domain awareness so they understand what is happening in there,” he said on Tuesday.

“Maritime domains and territories, practical work we can take together on countering illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and on an even more practical level, developing capabilities in search and rescue and other areas,” he added.

Kritenbrink said that the summit appeared to be a celebration of US-Asean ties, but at the same time, it was a high-level summit since the maritime issues hounding the South China Sea were also discussed.

“I would say it is perfectly natural that in a US-Asean summit there would be a focus on maritime issues, particularly in the South China Sea.  And I think both in the discussions among the leaders and in the Joint Vision Statement, I think you can see where the consensus lies amongst us — we are focused on ensuring peace and stability and prosperity across the South China Sea,” he explained.

“So the point I’m trying to make is I think this was both a high-level diplomatic conversation, underscoring the principles that we all hold dear, vis a vis the South China Sea, coupled with very practical systems designed to raise the capacity of our partners to defend their interests and exploit the resources in the South China Sea,” he added.

Having Asean and the US craft a single statement on the maritime issues and the South China Sea shows how much of a success the summit was, according to Edgard Kagan, special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asia and Oceania at the National Security Council.

“I think that during discussions, my view is there are some very strong statements on the South China Sea, and on the importance of moving up to some basic principles of international law, I think that we left here feeling that there’s actually more alignment between our views and those of Asean as a group as compared to bilateral discussions that we had expected,” Kagan said.

“I think we feel that we have a very similar perspective in many ways on the South China Sea, and the fact that we were able to get a joint statement — and one that was so clear on basic principles and values — from our standpoint, was quite positive,” he added.

The disputes over the South China Sea — or the West Philippine Sea — have been a much-talked topic in recent years as China continues its push to include most of the waters within its territories, despite the long-standing claims of Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines.

During President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, the relationship between China and the Philippines was mended, but that did not stop the Asian superpower from its intrusive activities.

In early 2021, China’s maritime militia became the talk of the town after over 200 ships were found in line formation at the Julian Felipe Reef, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The US and Asean member-states recently met for a Special Summit — described to be the largest in-person summit held by the administration of US President Joe Biden during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kagan earlier said that the summit was proof that the US was not overly-focused on the Ukraine issue, as it also sought to strengthen ties with Indo-Pacific countries.

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