ASEAN summit grapples with trade war, turf disputes
Southeast Asia should use the sway of its shared market of 650 million people and speak with
“one voice” to ensure it is treated fairly in an age of protectionism, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Saturday as leaders gathered for a regional summit.
The image of unity the Association of Southeast Asian Nations strives to project has been clouded by wrangling over a longdelayed agreement on a free trade bloc. ASEAN’s 10 members are also divided over the handling of territorial disputes with China.
There were signs of progress, with officials saying they hope to present a preliminary agreement on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership aimed at creating a 16-member trading bloc including ASEAN and six other major economies, led by China.
Mahathir told business leaders attending ASEAN meetings that they should unite in fighting back if countries try to shut them out of their markets.
The trade war between Beijing and Washington and President Donald Trump’s “America first” stance have many countries sharing a common goal of protecting their access to wealthy Western markets.
“ASEAN is quite a big market for the whole world. We don’t want to go into a trade war,” Mahathir said. He described campaigns against exports of palm oil from Malaysia and
Indonesia over concerns regarding labor and environmental issues as “sabotage.”
“If they do things that are not nice to us, we have to be not nice to them,” he said. “If you cut back some imports of palm oil from Malaysia, we can cut back our imports from them.”
“We should have one voice,” Mahathir said. “If you go it alone, you will be bullied.”
Trump opted not to attend the ASEAN and other regional meetings outside Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, that began Saturday and run through Monday. Many other regional leaders are attending, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are said to be busy with campaigning on behalf of fellow Republicans.
Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez told reporters that ASEAN trade ministers and counterparts from wealthier
Asian countries expect to report to their leaders on Monday that seven years of negotiations on RCEP are “nearing conclusion.”
RCEP will be one of the world’s biggest regional trade blocs if all 16 nations join, covering some 45% of the global population and about a third of GDP, with projected trade of more than $10.3 trillion, or nearly 30% of the world total.
ASEAN also struggles over how to address tensions over China’s encroachment into the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
Vietnam wanted ASEAN leaders to issue a communique that would mention Chinese movements into waters where its southern neighbor has exclusive rights to exploit energy resources, and other recent, aggressive acts off the Philippines and Malaysia.
China, through its ASEAN ally Cambodia, has opposed any such move, two Southeast Asian diplomats told The Associated Press.