President Barack Obama closed a historic summit with Southeast Asian leaders on Tuesday by calling for reduced tensions in the South China Sea, where territorial disputes over shipping lanes are spilling into international court, and announcing several new business development initiatives.
A joint statement from the U.S. and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — dubbed the “Sunnylands Declaration” because it was penned at the sprawling Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage — calls for respect of each nation’s sovereignty and for international law.
It does not mention the South China Sea by name, despite predictions from experts that maritime security in that region would be the summit’s hot-button issue.
“Most important, I think the fact that the joint statement that came out of the summit did not include a mention of China’s activities in the South China Sea is telling,” said Josh Kurlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, in an email. “It shows there are serious divides in Southeast Asia on how to deal with China, and on responding to China’s maritime strategy.”
THE DESERT SUN: What to expect at the U.S.-ASEAN summit
In a concluding statement Tuesday, Obama pointed to a dispute between the Philippines and China before the United Nations court system now. Those nations have made rival claims to the Spratly Islands, a group of islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Despite the Philippines’ claim to those islands, China has built airstrips on some of those sites. In October, the U.N. agreed to hear the case.
Late Tuesday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense released a statement saying that China had positioned anti-aircraft missiles on a disputed South China Sea island claimed also by Taiwan and Vietnam and watched closely by Washington.
The Taiwanese agency said it had “grasped that Communist China had deployed” an unspecified number of missiles on Woody Island in the Paracel group.
“The military will pay close attention to subsequent developments,” the ministry’s statement said. Relevant parties should “work together to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea region to refrain from any unilateral measure that would increase tensions,” the statement added.
Home to some of the world’s busiest sea lanes, the ocean is also rich in fisheries and may hold oil and natural gas reserves under the seabed.
In a show of support for the Philippines, the U.S. has sailed military ships through the sea to demonstrate its freedom to navigate there.
“We discussed the need for tangible steps in the South China Sea to lower tensions, including a halt to further reclamation, new construction and militarization of disputed areas,” Obama said in his concluding statement Tuesday. “I reiterated that the United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, and we will support the right of all countries to do the same.”
Aside from maritime security, trade and innovation were the summit’s lead discussion topics, and Obama announced several new initiatives Tuesday. Among them is a program Obama called “U.S.-ASEAN Connect” in which the U.S. will set up “hubs” across the region to connect entrepreneurs and business people.
Obama also emphasized the United States’ commitment to helping nations join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which already includes four ASEAN members. In a Monday briefing, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced workshops in which the remaining six ASEAN countries could further learn about ”the provisions and requirements” of the deal, which is intended to reduce barriers to trade and raise labor standards in some developing countries.
Obama also said the U.S. had offered to help ASEAN countries use Interpol data to combat foreign terrorism and to help them adhere to their goals under the international climate change agreement signed in Paris last year.
“I believe this summit has put U.S.-ASEAN on a new trajectory that will carry us to greater heights in the decade ahead,” Obama said.
DAY ONE: At ASEAN summit, Obama calls for mutual prosperity
Although this is the first meeting of its kind on U.S. soil, the president has met seven times with representatives of ASEAN — a 10-member pact of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. He has scheduled trips to Laos and Vietnam this spring.
Together, these nations comprise America’s fourth-largest trading partner and represent nearly 10 percent of the world’s population.
Sunnylands, a 200-acre estate in Rancho Mirage, was also the site of Obama’s June 2013 meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping. By choosing Sunnylands this time around, experts said the U.S. is signaling that it considers China and Southeast Asia as equals. Its potential for growth is enormous.
Obama opened the summit by calling our country’s ongoing economic engagement with ASEAN “central to the region’s peace and prosperity.” But he also urged ”sustainable and inclusive” development and highlighted the importance of respect for international laws.
Many of the foreign leaders who trekked to the Coachella Valley this week have been accused of human rights abuses or corruption. According to Human Rights Watch, in Cambodia, prime minister Hun Sen has been accused in international court of covering up genocide. The governing Thai junta has jailed journalists, activists and students for speaking critically of the regime. And the prime minister of Malaysia is still explaining why $700 million appeared in his bank account last year and why he’s jailed opposition leaders.
“That only stymies progress and makes it harder for countries to truly thrive and prosper,” Obama said.
In closing remarks Tuesday, Obama mentioned only two nations in connection to good governance and respect for human rights: He called for a “return to civilian rule” in Thailand and pledged continued U.S. support for Myanmar as it undergoes its first democratic transition in decades.
To illustrate their opposition to a U.S. meeting with these leaders, several protesters who braved record-high temperatures outside the summit wore bags over their heads in protests on Monday. The crowd of about 500 people began to disperse as the presidential motorcade disappeared and discussions began inside the pink-walled compound.
THE DESERT SUN: Why hundreds of protesters are at Obama’s summit
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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