{"id":25366,"date":"2016-03-16T06:00:35","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T19:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=25366"},"modified":"2016-03-15T17:22:41","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T06:22:41","slug":"southeast-asias-muted-reaction-to-the-2016-defence-white-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/southeast-asias-muted-reaction-to-the-2016-defence-white-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"Southeast Asia\u2019s muted reaction to the 2016 Defence White Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Image<\/p>\n

Like its predecessors, Australia\u2019s new Defence White Paper pays considerable attention to Southeast Asia. Its \u2018Strategic Outlook\u2019 chapter reiterates the long-held and axiomatic conventional wisdom that the geography of the archipelago to Australia\u2019s north \u2018will always have particular significance\u2019, because any conventional military threat\u2014and indeed some low-intensity challenges such as people- and drug-smuggling\u2014are \u2018likely to approach through the archipelago\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

The DWP also notes Australia\u2019s \u2018deep economic security interests\u2019 in Southeast Asia, including the fact that nearly two-thirds of the country\u2019s exports \u2018pass through the South China Sea\u2019. It holds that Southeast Asian instability\u2014whether within or between countries\u2014could affect Australia\u2019s security, and highlights a specific current concern over the \u2018return of foreign terrorist fighters from conflicts in the Middle East\u2019. Significantly, there\u2019s a particularly strong emphasis on the dangers of the escalating tension in the South China Sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

While its focus on the South China Sea is striking, the White Paper\u2019s confirmation of the importance of Southeast Asia for Australia\u2019s security hardly represents a radical shift in the thinking of Canberra\u2019s defence establishment. The country\u2019s wide-ranging security interests in the sub-region are reflected in the breadth and depth of its defence relations across Southeast Asia. Those with Malaysia and Singapore are particularly strong, both bilaterally and through the Five Power Defence Arrangements, set up 45 years ago with New Zealand the UK as the other two partners.<\/span><\/p>\n

For almost as long, Canberra has tried to develop a mutually valuable defence relationship with Indonesia, with fluctuating but not inconsiderable success: it\u2019s probably fair to say that this aspect of Australia\u2019s relationship with Jakarta is probably now stronger than ever before. The significance of this growing security link was underlined by the fact that Indonesia was included with China among the key countries<\/span> briefed in detail<\/span><\/a> by Canberra on the defence white paper\u2019s content in advance of its wider release.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Australia has long-established defence relations with the Philippines and Thailand\u2014both of which are technically still allies through the Manila Pact, a fact that\u2019s often forgotten or perhaps conveniently overlooked. Canberra\u2019s defence links also include less substantial exchanges with Brunei, Cambodia and Laos, a burgeoning partnership with Vietnam, and an embryonic one with Myanmar.<\/span><\/p>\n

In light of both what the Defence White Paper says about the importance of Southeast Asia, and of the tangible reality of Australia\u2019s defence relations throughout the sub-region, the muted reaction across capitals in Southeast Asia to the new statement of Canberra\u2019s defence policy is surprising. Whereas<\/span> China\u2019s official response<\/span><\/a> was quick and essentially critical of Australia\u2019s stronger defence posture and tightening strategic relations with the US, even two weeks after the White Paper was released there\u2019s been scant reaction from Southeast Asian governments.<\/span><\/p>\n

The only reported response from Indonesia was the<\/span> 28 February statement<\/span><\/a> from defence ministry spokesman Brigadier-General Djundan Eko Bintoro\u2019s that Jakarta had been \u2018forewarned\u2019 of the White Paper\u2019s contents, and that it didn\u2019t see the projected Australian military build-up as \u2018a threat\u2019 but rather about creating \u2018peace and security\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the following day, Singapore\u2019s <\/span>Straits Times<\/span><\/i> newspaper carried an<\/span> op-ed by Daniel Chua<\/span><\/a>, of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies entitled \u2018Positive signal to South-east Asia\u2019. It\u2019s probably reasonable to see Chua\u2019s piece as an indirect indication of the Singaporean government\u2019s view on the White Paper. Arguing, perhaps rather sweepingly but nevertheless with insight, that \u2018South-east Asian countries do not comment on the policies and politics of other nations\u2019, Chua didn\u2019t attempt to assess the likely private reaction of Southeast Asian governments to the White Paper but rather how they should respond in light of their objective interests.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, Chua argued, Southeast Asian leaders \u2018should be receptive\u2019 to the White Paper\u2019s indications that Australia was \u2018willing to carry some burden in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea\u2019 by, for example, conducting freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS). The \u2018loudest applause\u2019 for Australia\u2019s strengthening defence posture should come from Singapore and Malaysia, he wrote. Jakarta should see Australia\u2019s plans to strengthen its maritime capabilities as complementary to the Jokowi administration\u2019s own new maritime doctrine for Indonesia. Overall, he concluded, the DWP \u2018sends a positive signal to South-east Asia and potentially contributes to the region\u2019s stability and peace\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

As well as the unwillingness of Southeast Asian governments to comment openly on other states\u2019 policies\u2014also seen in their generally low-key responses to both China\u2019s activities in the South China Sea and US FONOPS there\u2014another factor may explain the lack of overt reaction in Southeast Asia to the White Paper: Southeast Asia may simply matter a lot more to Australia\u2019s security than vice versa.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite Australia\u2019s defence efforts in Southeast Asia over the years, security and defence establishments across the sub-region are consumed with complex hedging strategies in relation to the US, China, Japan, along with their relations with their Southeast Asian neighbours. One challenge for Canberra\u2019s Defence Department and armed forces in implementing the White Paper will be to change that equation in order to make Australia a more influential player in the sub-region to its immediate north.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like its predecessors, Australia\u2019s new Defence White Paper pays considerable attention to Southeast Asia. Its \u2018Strategic Outlook\u2019 chapter reiterates the long-held and axiomatic conventional wisdom that the geography of the archipelago to Australia\u2019s north \u2018will …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":25367,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[143,1636,471,25],"class_list":["post-25366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-asia-pacific","tag-defence-white-paper-2016","tag-south-china-sea","tag-southeast-asia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSoutheast Asia\u2019s muted reaction to the 2016 Defence White Paper | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/southeast-asias-muted-reaction-to-the-2016-defence-white-paper\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Southeast Asia\u2019s muted reaction to the 2016 Defence White Paper | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Like its predecessors, Australia\u2019s new Defence White Paper pays considerable attention to Southeast Asia. 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