Asian nations should not let external forces disrupt the trend for peace, cooperation and development in the region

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Cambodia, the current rotating chair, hosted the association's 20th summit earlier this month.

The summit focused on implementing the ASEAN Charter and realizing the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015, and several outcome documents were adopted including the Phnom Penh Declaration on ASEAN: One Community, One Destiny.

The summit also adopted the Phnom Penh Agenda, which spells out the priorities for ASEAN in 2012, including maintaining regional financial stability and implementing measures to prevent and address future crises.

The latest summit came at a sensitive time. On the economic front, developed economies are mired in financial crises and have adopted a beggar-thy-neighbor policy toward developing nations, including the members of ASEAN.

On the political front, the US is keen to play up the security issue in East Asia for its own strategic objectives and it has deployed marines in the north of Australia and might even use Australia's Cocos Islands as a new base for surveillance of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. It has also made a big fuss about the planned satellite launch of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and has taken the opportunity to promote a missile shield in Asia.

The US is also seeking to sow discord among East Asian countries by fueling the South China Sea disputes and is seeking to suppress and isolate the rising powers in the region to maintain its regional dominance.

The US will hold a military drill with the Philippines this month near disputed waters in the South China Sea. The Philippines is the most aggressive claimant to Chinese territory and it has been buying arms from the US and encouraging other countries to back its cause. For instance, it has reached an agreement with Vietnam to conduct joint military exercises and patrols in the disputed area, and it has urged ASEAN members to finalize the guidelines, without China, for the implementation of a code of conduct in the South China Sea.

By doing so, the Philippines is underestimating China's determination to defend its territorial sovereignty and maritime interests, and threatening the ASEAN cooperation process. Under these circumstances, whether or not ASEAN countries can renew their consensus and continue economic integration remains a matter of concern.

But ASEAN is only part of the overall landscape of East Asia, where the discord over the South China Sea is a digression from the general trend of peace and multilevel cooperation.

President Hu Jintao pointed out during his meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last month that over the years, Asia has adhered to equal treatment and consensus through consultation, and it has developed a set of effective principles and practices suited to the realities of this region. He said that Asian countries have the capacity and responsibility to safeguard peace and stability in the region.

Hu emphasized that East Asia should prioritize development and maintain the "10+3" cooperation between ASEAN and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea and "10+1" cooperation between ASEAN and China as the major channel of East Asian cooperation.

When delivering a keynote speech at the annual conference at the Boao Forum for Asia, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang stressed that peaceful development is the cornerstone of Asia's sound and sustainable development and that problems can be solved through dialogue, consultation and peaceful negotiation, "as long as the parties concerned proceed from the larger picture of friendly relations among Asian countries and the development of Asia as a whole, respect history, and abide by the basic norms governing international relations".

Indeed, East Asian countries are fully capable of solving the regional disputes, - be it issues left over from history or differences and disputes of the day - by strengthening strategic mutual trust, expanding mutually beneficial cooperation and rejecting the meddling of external forces.

Despite the US' attempts to stir up trouble, the trend in East Asia is for peace, development and cooperation, and this hard-earned momentum should be cherished.

The author is deputy director of the World Politics Research Institute under the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

(China Daily 04/13/2012 page8)