CRITICAL CONCERNS FROM EAST TO WEST
of their respective economic relations with China or the US. There is a real danger of this happening because of the competing interests and agendas of the two powers. China has endorsed a regional economic pact called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) while the US is, as I have mentioned, pursuing the Trans Pacific Partnership. It is important to reiterate that the RCEP does not include the US and the TPP does not include China. To put it simply, an intense tussle for power in the region between the US and China could have severe repercussions for ASEAN’s internal cohesion and its external role. Evolving a common ASEAN policy towards the US and China is not going to be a walk in the park. Discussions will not only have to be held at the highest levels of government but also among other actors --- diplomats, civil servants, academics, activists, media practitioners from all the different ASEAN states. There will be many obstacles to overcome including the way in which relations between an ASEAN state and the US or China have developed over time. But a dialogue on this challenge --- the challenge of forging a common perspective on the US and China --- will have to start sooner than later. This brings me to my second proposal. We need to create mechanisms that are aimed at solving problems that will crop up in the relations among ASEAN states as they interact with both China and the US. Disputes and frictions should be resolved immediately and not be allowed to fester for a long while. Perhaps what we need is a rapid response task force comprising diplomats, security personnel and media practitioners from all the ASEAN states. This task force will act as soon as tension and friction occurs. It will study a situation in depth and make recommendations to the relevant ASEAN leaders. The leaders will then take appropriate measures to ameliorate the situation.
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