Asean needs to face reality and not shy away from tackling differences in regional security issues if it wants to be respected on the global stage, former foreign minister Kasit Piromya said yesterday.
Speaking at the start of a seminar in Bangkok yesterday, entitled "Asean-China Relations: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead," Mr Kasit said Asean was heading through turbulent global times and a changing regional landscape as a result of China's rise using what has been a peaceful yet aggressive nationalistic tone.
The group's leaders must face reality and try to address difficult issues such as the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, he said.
"Stop lingering on a dependency mentality like we had in the first two decades [of the grouping's existence]. Asean is quite developed now ...So do not shy away but instead take more common positions at the United Nations, World Trade Organisation, and the World Bank," Mr Kasit said.
Asean members must overlook their self-interests in the wake of the superpowers' attempts to expand their influence, he said.
"Asean must be brave and not petty-minded in creating self-respect and self-responsibility and assert itself globally," Mr Kasit said. Cambodia has to "take a bigger interest in Asean, not just [rely on] a few dollars or yuan".
The Philippines and Vietnam, he said, also need to conduct more shuttle diplomacy, explaining their territorial disputes with China to their Asean colleagues before reaching out to other nations.
Mr Kasit said he believed new Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo, despite his domestic political and economic reform agenda, would still be able to act as the holder of a maritime balance of power and prevent China from having its way in the South China Sea disputes.
Yang Yi, secretary-general of the China Institute of International Studies, said China and Asean both recognise that diplomacy and not conflict should be the norm for regional interaction.
"There is no real problem in the South China Sea. [The sea] remains a peaceful area with freedom of passage. Of course, there are territorial disputes ... but globally speaking there are 44 countries embroiled in maritime disputes [not just China]," Mr Yang told the seminar, co-hosted by Chulalongkorn University and his institute.