Is China's presence the key destabilising factor within ASEAN?

• Main Author: Lee, Hock Chye
• Other Authors: Kei Koga
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Social sciences::Political science
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/157138
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

China’s presence in the region has oft times been cited as a key destabilising factor for ASEAN’s unity. China’s economic clout and political influence over Cambodia and Lao PDR have enabled China to gain a foothold in ASEAN’s consensus decision-making process which in turn empowers China to influence the direction of ASEAN’s decisions. Furthermore, China’s divide-and-conquer strategy of befriending ASEAN non-claimant states in the South China Sea disputes had plausibly sowed a seed of discord and distrust among the ten ASEAN member states. Nonetheless, while China is the main adversary in most cases, are there more contributing and aggravating factors that could cause a divide within ASEAN? This paper looks at some existing internal and external factors which could be the underlying root cause to a possible division within ASEAN. Factors such as ASEAN’s intrinsic organisational structure; ASEAN’s consensus decision-making mechanism; and the United States-China rivalry in the region are explored. In conclusion, this paper found that in most cases China merely makes use of existing underlying causes, which could be exploited by other states as well, to magnify its political influence and national interests in the region.